▁Po isson ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁dis pro ve ▁the ▁wave ▁theory ▁of ▁light , ▁as ▁he ▁thought ▁the ▁existence ▁of ▁a ▁bright ▁spot ▁at ▁the ▁center ▁of ▁the ▁shadow ▁to ▁be ▁n ons ens ical . ▁However ▁Domin ique ▁Arag o ▁experiment ally ▁verified ▁the ▁existence ▁of ▁the ▁spot ▁of ▁Arag o . ▁This ▁effect ▁can ▁be ▁neg ated ▁by ▁specifically ▁sh aping ▁the ▁occ ul ter . ▁By ▁adding ▁spe cially ▁sh aped ▁pet als ▁to ▁the ▁outer ▁edge ▁of ▁the ▁disc , ▁the ▁spot ▁of ▁Arag o ▁will ▁disappear , ▁allowing ▁the ▁supp ression ▁of ▁the ▁star ' s ▁light . ▁▁▁ ▁This ▁technique ▁would ▁make ▁planet ary ▁detection ▁possible ▁for ▁stars ▁within ▁approximately ▁ 1 0 ▁parse cs ▁( about ▁ 3 2 ▁light ▁years ) ▁of ▁Earth . ▁It ▁is ▁estimated ▁that ▁there ▁could ▁be ▁as ▁many ▁as ▁several ▁thousands ▁of ▁ex op lan ets ▁within ▁that ▁distance . ▁The ▁star sh ade ▁is ▁similar ▁to ▁but ▁should ▁not ▁be ▁confused ▁with ▁the ▁Arag os cope , ▁which ▁is ▁a ▁proposed ▁imag ing ▁device ▁designed ▁to ▁use ▁the ▁diff raction ▁of ▁light ▁around ▁a ▁perfectly - circ ular ▁light - sh ield ▁to ▁produce ▁an ▁image . ▁The ▁star sh ade ▁is ▁a ▁proposed ▁sun flow er - sh aped ▁coron agraph ▁disc ▁that ▁was ▁designed ▁to ▁block ▁star light ▁that ▁inter fer es ▁with ▁teles cop ic ▁observations ▁of ▁other ▁world s . ▁The ▁" pet als " ▁of ▁the ▁" sun flow er " ▁shape ▁of ▁the