Authors

Luc Simard

Affiliations

NRC-HIA

Abstract

Many critical observations are simply beyond our present 8-10m telescopes due to photon starvation and limited spatial resolution. These obstacles will be overcome by new adaptive optics systems on extremely large telescopes that will provide huge gains in in sensitivity, contrast and angular resolution and fully realize the so-called "D^4" advantage. In this talk, I will discuss a range of science cases going from the surface of outer Solar System bodies to the First Light objects in the Universe where AO on ELTs will have a particularly high impact and the potential for exciting new discoveries.