adaptive optics

American  

noun

1. the branch of optics that compensates for image distortions, especially by means of flexible mirrors or membranes.

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adaptive optics British  

noun

1. a technique used to increase the resolution of a ground-based astronomical telescope by counteracting the effects of the atmosphere on the image. A deforming mirror in the light path of the telescope maintains a pointlike image of the celestial body using either a real star or a laser beam as a reference

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Example Sentences

To correct for this, the Subaru Telescope team used adaptive optics, a technology that continuously adjusts to cancel out these distortions and stabilize the light waves in real time.

From Science Daily • Oct. 25, 2025

Dr Elise Vernet is an adaptive optics specialist at ESO and has been overseeing development of the five giant mirrors that will gather and channel light to the telescope’s measuring equipment.

From BBC • Aug. 19, 2024

With an optical bench, the researchers use technology originally developed for astronomy, such as adaptive optics mirrors and spatial light modulators, to manipulate the optics of the eye as an intraocular lens would.

From Science Daily • Sep. 21, 2023

Astronomers solve this problem by filtering starlight with an item known as a coronagraph, which blocks out the bright central area of the star, and by keeping images steady and crisp with adaptive optics technology.

From Scientific American • May 11, 2023

The technique of adaptive optics, however, can make corrections for this turbulence in real time and produce exquisitely detailed images.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016