adaptive optics

American

noun

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

adaptive optics British

noun

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

"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

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Equipped with two 8.4-meter mirrors and an adaptive optics system that reduces atmospheric distortion, the telescope produced the first high-resolution color image of this system.

From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2026

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

Today we could just switch on an adaptive optics system—now standard equipment that counteracts the shimmering of Earth's atmosphere.

From Scientific American • Aug. 18, 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

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