Have you heard of these?

The search for galaxies, quasars and other incredibly bright formations has taken leaps forward with The Hubble Telescope.  However, detecting the exoplanets that may orbit stars within galaxies are difficult to detect due to the brightness of the stars they would likely be orbiting around.  So, this team has an interesting idea:

The next step in the exoplanet revolution may be an in-space “starshade” that lets alien worlds step out of a blinding glare.

Researchers are testing designs for a starshade, which would fly in formation with a future space-based telescope. The starshade, also known as an “external occulter,” would block the light from a star while allowing the scope to spot emissions from much dimmer orbiting planets.

Let’s find out more about how this could work on page 2

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