Overview
- ESO fired four lasers from the Paranal Unit Telescopes to create artificial stars about 90 kilometers up, enabling adaptive-optics correction of atmospheric blur across the sky.
- Initial commissioning observations in the Tarantula Nebula resolved a bright source once thought to be a single massive star into a close binary pair.
- A second-night test also targeted a distant quasar, where the team reports resolving hot, oxygen-emitting gas near its central black hole, according to MPE’s Taro Shimizu.
- The GRAVITY+ upgrade pairs the new laser system with advanced sensors, deformable mirrors, and spectrograph and tunnel improvements to expand sensitivity and target access.
- Project leaders cite major sensitivity gains—reported as up to tenfold in early coverage—while broader science operations proceed as commissioning continues under the MPE-led consortium with ESO.