#TBT to Dec. 7, 1968, when NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched its most ambitious cosmic explorer yet. Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 captured thousands of sources in ultraviolet light for the first time, revealing fascinating details about stars, comets, and more: https://go.nasa.gov/4g0VmfR | NASA Universe

Taking Super Sharp Astronomical Images with Adaptive Optics | ESO FriendsofNASA.org: Turbulence in our atmosphere blurs images of the cosmos, but astronomers have a trick up their sleeve: adaptive optics. Using powerful lasers and fast deformable mirrors we can correct this blurring in real time and obtain extremely sharp astronomical images. In this episode of Chasing Starlight, we show you how this amazing technology works and how it is implemented in our telescopes. Credit: European Southern