[semaphoreP]

Ah my bad, I mean that in the visible, you can't reach the diffraction limit with AO like you can in the near infrared. Certainly impressive matching HST from the ground.

I don't think past 5 microns there's been a lot of science done from the ground (not counting SOFIA). Practically, I think everyone is waiting for JWST. A lot of the interesting molecular lines also get absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere.