How this NASA mission could get a high-resolution image of an exoplanet

Probably the most thrilling points of the James Webb Area Telescope (JWST) is its skill to picture and collect details about exoplanets. However whereas JWST will give us tons of knowledge about these celestial our bodies, there’s one thing that it may’t do: take a high-resolution picture of an earth-like exoplanet — particularly, a picture the place we will clearly see proof of doable life on one other world, resembling land plenty, clouds, and our bodies of water.   

Slava Turyshev of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is engaged on an answer that may give us a clearer image of an exoplanet. This methodology would use a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing to seize that sort of a picture. Gravitational lensing happens when the gravity of an enormous object, like a galaxy or star, bends the space-time round it. This curvature in space-time acts as a lens, inflicting the sunshine from objects which can be a lot additional away to bend round it and turn out to be magnified. When considered on the proper angle and distance, the magnified mild will seem as a hoop, often known as an Einstein ring.

Turyshev’s proposed photo voltaic gravitational lens would use the solar as that large object, magnifying the sunshine of a distant exoplanet in an effort to assemble a high-resolution picture we in any other case couldn’t visualize. We sat down with Turyshev to speak about what it could take to succeed in this purpose and the way he hopes to realize it inside only a few many years. Watch our video above to see extra.