The W.M. Keck Observatory in Kamuela, Hawaii, has announced grants from three foundations to upgrade its adaptive optics (AO) system.

Grants totaling $3.7 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore, W.M. Keck, and Bob and Renee Parsons foundations will be used to upgrade the Keck II Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system , which currently delivers images three to four times sharper than those captured by the Hubble space telescope.

The observatory, which operates the two biggest telescopes in the world, has been a prime innovator in the field of AO. Keck commissioned the first large Laser Guide Star AO system on Keck II in 2004, revealing unprecedented details within the solar system, our galaxy, and beyond. The current LGS AO system on the Keck II Telescope projects a thirteen-watt pulsed-dye laser beam that excites sodium atoms in the mesosphere, ninety kilometers above the earth's surface. Fluorescence from The atoms creates an artificial "star" the color of a sodium streetlamp that can be used to measure and remove distortion caused by the turbulence of the planet's atmosphere, sharpening images by up to a factor of twenty. Designed in collaboration with the European Southern Observatory, TOPTICA Photonics AG, and MPB Communications Inc., the new laser will producers a twenty-watt continuous-wave beam that boosts the coupling efficiency of the current system by a factor of more than fifteen.

With the grants, the observatory has met its $4 million capital campaign goal, with the remainder coming from individual gifts made by Friends of the Keck Observatory. In the past, a combination of federal grants and private support funded technology enhancements to the observatory. "This is the first time private philanthropy will fund an instrument project for us in its entirety," said observatory director Taft Armandroff. "They clearly see the value putting their resources into the Keck Observatory, and for that, we are delighted."