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The ING Team seized the opportunity afforded by the close approach of 2002NY40 to capture some amazing images. The extremely high quality pictures were obtained in the near-infrared with a resolution of 0.11 arcseconds. This resolution is close to the theoretical limit of the telescope, and sets an upper limit to the size of the asteroid, which is 400 metres across.
The Adaptive Optics system used, called NAOMI, was built by a team from the University of Durham and the UK Astronomy Technology Centre. It incorporates a system of fast-moving mirror elements which correct in real-time for the defocusing of stars caused by the Earth's turbulent atmosphere. In good conditions, NAOMI delivers images as sharp as those from Hubble Space Telescope.
The ING NAOMI team consists of Dr. Chris Benn, Dr. Sebastian Els, Dr. Tom Gregory, Dr. Roy �stensen and Dr. Francisco Prada.
More info: Issac Newton Group of Telescopes
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