Chris L Peterson wrote:
It simply isn't possible to do much along these lines with amateur
systems. Adaptive optics requires a reference object very close to the
target, and in almost all cases that object (if one exists at all) is
going to be dim. For this reference to be useful, you need to collect
enough photons to get out of the noise. Since detectors are already
nearly 100% efficient, the only way to get enough light is with a large
aperture. Adaptive optics starts becoming practical as apertures get in
the range of a meter, and larger is better. Obviously, this is well
outside what most would consider amateur optics.

Wouldn't you need good coherence at one-meter scales for that? Isn't
the Fried parameter shorter than that most of the time?

--
Brian Tung
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