After thirty years of space exploration it may come as a surprise that new information on the solar system can be obtained from images made with a ground-based telescope. Moreover, until Galileo, space probes were not equipped with infrared cameras. Compared to conventional AO, curvature AO can operate with fainter guide sources and requires less actuators to deform the mirror. Click on the images to see them enlarged Fig. 1. A Voyager image showing the names of Saturn's main rings and divisions.
Time increases quasi-monotonically from bottom to top.
Vertical bands show the fixed ring structures indicated under the figure. Bright slanted lines are produced by the moving objects indicated on top. Note the temporary disappearance of Epimetheus due to an eclipse in the shadow of the A ring. The first curvature AO system had only 13 actuators. It was built at the IfA and started to operate in 1994.