NAOS+CONICA at YEPUN: first VLT adaptive optics system sees first light
Résumé
NAOS+CONICA (hereafter NACO) saw first light on November 25, 2001, at VLT UT4 (YEPUN). NACO partially compensates the effects of atmospheric turbulence (seeing) and provides diffraction- limited resolution for observing wavelengths from 1 to 5 μm, resulting in a gain in spatial resolution by a factor of 5 to 15 (diffraction limit of an 8-m-class telescope in K-band corresponds to 60 mas). This article gives an overview of the main characteristics and science drivers of NACO and briefly summarises the first results obtained during commissioning. Prospective users of NACO are kindly asked to cite [7] and [13] as a general reference to NACO in their scientific papers.