We report the results of spectroscopic and photometric observations of the emission-line object AS 386. For the first time we found that it exhibits the B[e] phenomenon and fits the definition of an FS CMa

One important frontier for astronomical adaptive optics (AO) involves methods such as Multi-Object AO and Multi-Conjugate AO that have the potential to give a significantly larger field of view than conventional AO techniques. A second key emphasis over the next decade will be to push astronomical AO to visible wavelengths. We have conducted the first laboratory simulations of wide-field, laser guide star adaptive optics at visible wavelengths on a 10-meter-class telescope. These experiments, utilizing the UCO/Lick Observatory's Multi-Object / Laser Tomography Adaptive Optics (MOAO/LTAO) testbed, demonstrate new techniques in wavefront sensing and control that are crucial to future on-sky MOAO systems. We (1) test and confirm the feasibility of highly accurate atmospheric tomography with laser guide stars, (2) demonstrate key innovations allowing open-loop operation of Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors (with errors of ∼ 30 nm) as will be needed for MOAO, and (3) build a complete error budget model describing system performance. The AO system maintains a performance of 32.4% Strehl on-axis, with 24.5% and 22.6% at 10. ′′ and 15. ′′ , respectively, at a science wavelength of 710 nm (R-band) over the equivalent of 0.8 seconds of simulation. The mean ensquared energy on-axis in a 50 milliarcsecond spaxel is 46%. The off-axis Strehls are obtained at radial separations 2-3 times the isoplanatic angle of the atmosphere at 710 nm. The MOAO-corrected field of view is ∼ 25 times larger in area than that limited by anisoplanatism at R-band. The error budget we assemble is composed almost entirely of terms verified through independent, empirical experiments, with minimal parameterization of theoretical models. We find that error terms arising from calibration inaccuracies and optical drift are comparable in magnitude to traditional terms like fitting error and tomographic error. This makes a strong case for implementing additional calibration facilities in future AO systems, including accelerometers on powered optics, 3D turbulators, telescope and LGS simulators, and external calibration ports for deformable mirrors. These laboratory demonstrations add strong credibility to the implementation of on-sky demonstrators of Laser Tomographic Adaptive Optics (LTAO) on 5-10 meter telescopes in the coming years.

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We report on the development of wavefront reconstruction and control algorithms for multiconjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) and the results of testing them in the laboratory under conditions that simulate an 8 meter class telescope. The University of California Observatories (UCO) Lick Observatory Laboratory for Adaptive Optics multiconjugate testbed allows us to test wide-field-of-view adaptive optics systems as they might be instantiated in the near future on giant telescopes. In particular, we have been investigating the performance of MCAO using five laser beacons for wavefront sensing and a minimum-variance algorithm for control of two conjugate deformable mirrors. We have demonstrated improved Strehl ratio and enlarged field-of-view performance when compared to conventional AO techniques. We have demonstrated improved MCAO performance with the implementation of a routine that minimizes the generalized isoplanatism when turbulent layers do not correspond to deformable mirror conjugate altitudes. Finally, we have demonstrated suitability of the system for closed loop operation when configured to feed back conditional mean estimates of wavefront residuals rather than the directly measured residuals. This technique has recently been referred to as the "pseudo-open-loop" control law in the literature.