Starshade

  • 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.
  • 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.