I don't think that's what it is. You're probably thinking of this:pvk21 said:it shoots out laser is space and get images from reflected light.
A small but relevant fraction of the photons in lunar laser ranging comes from the lunar surface around the retroreflectors. Not with such a nice timing as the surface is not completely flat, but I guess it could be possible to do lunar ranging without retroreflectors today.Bandersnatch said:You can't really use lasers like what you described, as it's impossible to maintain a tight, collimated beam over large distances, impossible to get a reflected beam that gets back to you without a dedicated mirror (like with the Lunar Ranging experiment), and most importantly, impossible to wait a number of years for your beam to get to the target, bounce back and hit the aperture of your telescope. All you have is a night.
A laser telescope produces images by using a laser beam to illuminate an object in space. The reflected light from the object is then collected by a mirror and focused onto a detector, which converts the light into an image that can be captured by a camera or observed directly by the scientist.
The laser beam in a telescope stays focused over long distances due to the use of adaptive optics. This technology uses a deformable mirror to adjust and correct for any distortions in the laser beam caused by atmospheric turbulence. This allows for a clear and focused image to be produced even over long distances.
A laser telescope differs from a traditional telescope in that it uses a laser beam to illuminate objects in space, rather than relying solely on the light from these objects. This allows for higher resolution images to be produced, as well as the ability to observe objects that may not emit enough light to be seen with a traditional telescope.
A laser telescope helps to reduce noise in images by using a technique called speckle imaging. This involves taking multiple images of the same object and combining them to create a single, clearer image. The laser beam provides a stable reference point for these images, allowing for the noise to be reduced and a more detailed image to be produced.
A laser telescope is controlled and operated by a computer system, which is responsible for adjusting the telescope's mirrors, capturing and processing images, and communicating with the scientist. The computer is also programmed with algorithms and software to aid in the analysis and interpretation of the data collected by the telescope.