starshade starshade2

A wise man once said something like ‘There is life on other planets, only not to see’.

It might have been Aidan Walsh. And how right he was.

It’s all down to the blinding glow of stars, which obliterates the ability of distant viewers to see the planets orbiting them.

In this TED talk, Princeton University astronomer Jeremy Kasdin explains a new  technology which may change all that: the Starshade – a flower petal-shaped screen that allows a telescope (located up to 50,000km from said Starshade) to photograph previously invisible planets trillions of kilometers away.

(Thanks Helvick)

laughingsquid

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