GoKawiilNASA and Caltech Design Starshade to Reveal Earth-Like Exoplanets
NASA and Caltech researchers are developing a large, flower-shaped spacecraft called a starshade that would fly in formation with a space telescope to block a star's glare. By blotting out starlight, the device would let astronomers directly observe faint, Earth-sized planets orbiting that star.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Direct imaging of small rocky exoplanets is currently nearly impossible because starlight overwhelms their faint reflected light. A working starshade could let scientists study the atmospheres of potentially habitable worlds without needing coronagraphs built into the telescope itself, opening a new path toward detecting signs of life beyond our solar system.
- NASA and Caltech are developing a flower-shaped starshade spacecraft
- The device blocks starlight so faint nearby exoplanets become visible
- This approach could aid the search for Earth-like, potentially habitable planets
Celestron NexStar 130SLT Telescope — While NASA works on blotting out starlight to spot Earth-like worlds, you can start your own sky survey with the computerized NexStar 130SLT. Its motorized GoTo mount finds targets for you, so you can spend the night observing planets instead of hunting for them.
See Celestron NexStar 130SLT Telescope on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: gizmodo.com, 2026-08-25
Published there as: “NASA Researchers Want to Literally Blot Out Starlight to Hunt for Earth-Like Exoplanets”
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