- meter ▁teles cope , ▁or ▁$ 7 5 0 ▁million ▁for ▁one ▁star sh ade ▁to ▁be ▁used ▁with ▁the ▁James ▁Web b ▁Space ▁T eles cope . ▁If ▁fin anced ▁and ▁launched , ▁it ▁would ▁operate ▁for ▁five ▁years . ▁ ▁Pur pose ▁Currently , ▁the ▁direct ▁detection ▁of ▁ex tras olar ▁plan ets ▁( or ▁ex op lan ets ) ▁is ▁extremely ▁difficult . ▁This ▁is ▁primarily ▁due ▁to : ▁ ▁Ex op lan ets ▁appear ▁extremely ▁close ▁to ▁their ▁host ▁stars ▁when ▁observed ▁at ▁astronom ical ▁distances . ▁Even ▁the ▁closest ▁of ▁stars ▁are ▁several ▁light ▁years ▁away . ▁This ▁means ▁that ▁while ▁looking ▁for ▁ex op lan ets , ▁one ▁would ▁typically ▁be ▁obser ving ▁very ▁small ▁angles ▁from ▁the ▁star , ▁on ▁the ▁order ▁of ▁several ▁tens ▁of ▁mill i - arc seconds . ▁Ang les ▁this ▁small ▁are ▁impossible ▁to ▁resolve ▁from ▁the ▁ground ▁due ▁to ▁astronom ical ▁seeing . ▁Ex op lan ets ▁are ▁extremely ▁dim ▁compared ▁to ▁their ▁host ▁stars . ▁Typ ically , ▁the ▁star ▁will ▁be ▁approximately ▁a ▁billion ▁times ▁br ighter ▁than ▁the ▁orbit ing ▁planet . ▁This ▁makes ▁it ▁nearly ▁impossible ▁to ▁see ▁plan ets ▁against ▁the ▁star ' s ▁g lare . ▁ ▁The ▁difficulty ▁of ▁obser ving ▁such ▁a ▁dim ▁planet ▁so ▁close ▁to ▁a ▁bright ▁star ▁is ▁the ▁obst acle ▁that ▁has ▁prevent ed ▁astronom ers ▁from ▁directly ▁photograph ing ▁ex op lan ets . ▁To ▁date , ▁only ▁a ▁hand ful ▁of ▁ex op lan ets