Kent Wallace

PALM-3000 (P3K) is the Hale Telescope's adaptive optics system. On these two engineering nights, Wallace will install a number of upgrades and improvements including a new Zernike wavefront sensor with advanced detection, pointing and control capabilities.

P3K is used in combination with PHARO, an infrared imaging spectrograph, and a chronograph to directly image exoplanets. The modified system will allow science investigations at smaller radii around nearby young stars. These upgrades are expected to improve the sensitivity of these instruments by a factor of 10.

Two views of Ganymede. Left: A false-color image of Jupiter's largest moon obtained by the Hale Telescope using PALM-3000 and a high-speed imager to demonstrate the visible-light correctional capability of the AO system. Right: A Hubble Space Telescope false-color image of Ganymede for comparison. The satellite's disk is slightly greater than 1 arc second across. (Palomar Observatory/ Caltech and NASA)