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active optics

British

noun

a system to compensate for any deformation caused by gravity in the surface accuracy and alignment of the mirrors of an astronomical telescope by means of actuators that control the movable mirror supports

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The high reflectivity and speed of this allow the telescope to capture a lot of light which Guillem Megias, an active optics expert at the observatory, says is "really important" to observe things from "really far away which, in astronomy, means they come from earlier times".

From BBC

Engineers still need to complete tasks such as integrating software, fine-tuning the active optics, and installing the first science instrument, a high-quality imaging camera.

From Science Magazine

The best example of a shape-changing "active optics" mirror is the one in the European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope in La Silla, Chile.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023