Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have harnessed a technique that helps telescopes see objects in the night sky more clearly to fight against dangerous and costly space debris.

“Adaptive optics is like removing the twinkle from the stars.”

The researchers’ work on adaptive optics — which removes the haziness caused by turbulence in the atmosphere — has been applied to a new ‘guide star’ laser for better identifying, tracking and safely moving space debris.