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Starshade

  • The mDOT project includes a pair of satellites, one equipped with a starshade to help its buddy peer at distant planets with a small telescope
    Space
    Stanford's starshade satellite casts an artificial eclipse to spot exoplanets
    A team from Stanford is planning to create an artificial eclipse with a light-blocking satellite. Thankfully, the Sun’s rays aren’t the target of the system: instead, it will block out distant stars, allowing a telescope on its partner satellite to get a clearer look at exoplanets orbiting them.
  • Starshade and its space telescope (Image: NASA)
    Space
    JPL develops space flowers to help find Earth-like planets
    NASA's JPL has released a video showing off its starshade spacecraft that opens up like a blossom. Bearing a resemblance to a cosmic sunflower, it’s designed to help astronomers to directly study exoplanets, including taking the first actual pictures of planets beyond our Solar System.