ANU plays starring role in heavenly clean-up The giant Magellan
Telescope. Australian National University researchers have found
a way to take the twinkle out of stars – welcome news for the
international astronomers who will work on the world’s biggest
light telescope being built in Chile. Stars appear to twinkle
because of the disruption caused by turbulence in the
atmosphere, which distorts the light. This can make stars and
galaxies appear little more than a speckly mess for astronomers.
‘‘Instead of a nice circular image, you get a speckly mess,’’
ANU physicist Francis Bennet said. ‘‘And instead of clean pin-
points you’ll have messy blobs for galaxies.’’ In collaboration
with colleagues at Mount Stromlo Observatory, Dr Bennet has
developed an ‘‘adaptive optic system’’ which will counter the
effect of atmospheric turbulence on the wavefront, which makes
the image of the stars. The device, which has just emerged from
its preliminary design phase, will become a key part of the
Giant Magellan Telescope. The