Optical transfer functions derived from solar adaptive optics system data

Adaptive optics (AO) systems installed at large ground-based telescopes partially correct Earth's atmosphere, making post facto image reconstruction techniques necessary to produce diffraction-limited observations. To achieve accurate photometry in the reconstructed images, some post facto techniques require knowledge of transfer functions that describe the optical system. I present a new, fast method for the estimation of the long-exposure and speckle transfer functions from data gathered by a solar AO system simultaneously with the observations. The results of the presented method are tested with extensive analytical models, demonstrating that the estimation is robust for situations where the AO system is performing with Strehl ratios larger than 45%. Application to observations of solar granulation produces reconstructed images that are photometrically in agreement with earlier results.