Diffraction-Limited Imaging with Very Large Telescopes

A few years ago, a real break-through happened in observational astronomy: the understanding of the effect of atmospheric turbulence on the structure of stellar images, and of ways to overcome this dramatic degradation. This opened a route to diffraction-limited observations with large telescopes in the optical domain. Soon, the first applications of this new technique led to some outstanding astrophysical results, both at visible and infrared wavelengths. Yet, the potential of interferomet...