Text written for MMTO Bimonthly report around October 2003
----------------------------------------------------------

The MMT AO system went on the telescope for the fourth time at the
beginning of October this year. Despite the remnants of a hurricane
clouding out a week of nights and teething problems with the secondary,
the imaging mode of ARIES was successfully comissioned with science
grade data being taken three nights in a row.

The AO loop was locked on stars fainter than 13th magnitude and at
evevations as low as thirty degrees from the horizon. Diffraction
limited images of a planetary nebula, star forming regions in a nearby
galaxy, and polarimetry of extragalactic cores were obtained and are in
the process of being reduced by astronomers. The AO group is looknig
forward to the next run sometime early next year, with a wide range of
scientific targets both from multiple brown dwarf systems to quasar
hosts taking advantage of the high spatial resolution afforded by the AO
system's atmospheric correction.