For as much of a dark, inky void the universe is, the countless stars in it keep shining directly into the telescopes of researchers hunting for exoplanets. That’s why, according to Universe Today, a small NASA-led team has come up with a plan to essentially blot out the light from stars to see what is hiding behind the glare.
The idea, called the Hybrid Observatory for Earth-like Exoplanets, or HOEE, is to put a giant artificial eclipse in space between Earth and a distant star, then use one of the world’s ground-based telescopes to look at whatever remains visible.
NASA’s Wild Plan to Block Out Stars Could Help Us Find Another Earth
The proposed “starshade” would be situated about 175,000 kilometers above Earth and could stretch roughly 100 meters across, looking like a flower in space with petal-like structures designed to block out the star’s light. This is because Earth-like planets can be around a billion times fainter than the star they orbit, drowning out our view of a world that could potentially sustain life.
Scientists will analyze light collected from these worlds to look for atmospheric chemicals associated with conditions that might support life, like traces of oxygen and nitrogen. It’s still a long way off from becoming reality. The team is looking for another round of NASA funding, and the eventual starshade project could cost around $1 billion. It sounds like an absurd idea. It sounds like a lot, but it’s
A giant space umbrella blocking out stars sounds ludicrous, and it might even prove to be one day, but some folks at NASA think it might actually work. If it does. The payoff is finally getting a clear view of some planets the human race might one day visit, may one day call home, deep, deep into our future.
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