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AOLI-- Adaptive Optics Lucky Imager: Diffraction Limited Imaging in the Visible on Large Ground-Based Telescopes Craig Mackay, Rafael Rebolo-Lpez, Bruno Femenia Castell, Jonathan Crass, David L. King, Lucas Labadie, Peter Aisher, Antonio Prez Garrido, Marc Balcells, Anastasio Daz-Snchez, Jess Jimenez Fuensalida, Roberto L. Lopez, Alejandro Oscoz, Jorge A. Prez Prieto, Luis F. Rodrguez-Ramos, Isidro Vill. (AOLI team: IAC La Laguna, ING La Palma and Universities of Cartagena, Cologne and Cambridge) 5 July, 2012: SPIE 8446-72

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Our understanding of the Universe has been transformed by the Hubble space telescope that has freed us from the limitations of atmospheric turbulence on ground. We can build telescopes on the ground with extraordinary angular resolution but the atmosphere limits us to ~1 arcsec. AO now works in the near-IR, but less successful in the visible. Our science programmes emphasise distant, compact and faint targets over the whole sky. Our goal is to allow large telescopes to produce near diffraction limited images over much of the sky using natural guide stars. To do this we really have to rethink many of the assumptions conventionally made about how this might be achieved. Introduction and Outline 5 July, 2012: SPIE 8446-72

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High Resolution Imaging from the Ground in the Visible The only technique that can routinely deliver Hubble resolution images on Hubble size (~2.4m) telescopes in the visible on the ground is Lucky Imaging. It is our shared experiences with Lucky Imaging that brought our team together. High-speed photon counting CCD cameras freeze the motion due to atmospheric turbulence. A moderately bright ( I