Posted on 09/26/2019 6:28:21 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
When a new NASA space telescope opens its eyes in the mid-2020s, it will peer at the universe through some of the most sophisticated sunglasses ever designed.
This multi-layered technology, the coronagraph instrument, might more rightly be called "starglasses": a system of masks, prisms, detectors and even self-flexing mirrors built to block out the glare from distant stars - and reveal the planets in orbit around them.
Normally, that glare is overwhelming, blotting out any chance of seeing planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets, said Jason Rhodes, the project scientist for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
(Excerpt) Read more at exoplanets.nasa.gov ...
NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope opens its eyes in the mid 2020s, it will peer at the universe through some of the most sophisticated sunglasses ever designed. This multi-layered technology, the coronagraph instrument, might more rightly be called "starglasses": a system of masks, prisms, detectors and even self-flexing mirrors built to block out the glare from distant stars — and reveal the planets in orbit around them.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Kind of like trying to see a speck of dust floating in front of an incandescent light bulb from across a large room.
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear sunshades....
Don’t contract Perkin Elmer to build it.
Zero hour, nine a.m...
The obvious solution? X-ray Spex!
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