New advanced photonic instrumentation previously developed for photonically controlled phased array antennas/radar work, is proposed for astronomical applications. The proposed adaptive optics approach is to use these remotely located photonic phase, time delay, and amplitude control modules for wavefront correction and optical beamforming for astronomical applications, particularly where fiber remoting can lead to larger observation apertures and/or signal processing gains. Scenarios using our photonic instrumentation such as solar wind sensing using radio frequency antenna arrays and fiber-linked optical telescope arrays are highlighted.