On September 9th 2016, TOPTICA’s guide star laser SodiumStar 20/2 was rewarded with the third place of the highly prestigious Laser Research Innovation Award presented by the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung. As the “Guide Star Alliance”, together with MPB Communications Inc. (Canada) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO), we had developed this novel high-power laser system over a period of more than seven years, which now creates artificial reference stars for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and other large and extremely large telescopes. This technology is a long-sought key component for the construction of modern, earth-based telescopes and has already created a large impact for the performance, reliability and maintenance of such high-tech devices.
Leibinger Award for Guide Star Alliance
