Scientists are testing "starshades", flying screens that block out starlight enabling orbiting telescopes to process only dimmer planetary light. The technology is being developed by the European Space Agency and NASA, which hope it will be ready for launch in 2018. It's believed a starshade could allow telescopes to accumulate more precise data on the "habitable zones" of stars, where planets with liquid water might exist.
Scientists are testing "starshades", flying screens that block out starlight enabling orbiting telescopes to process only dimmer planetary light. Following night-time tests at the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, the team hopes to fly a starshade with Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, which is set to launch in 2024 or 2025. It's believed a starshade could allow telescopes to accumulate more precise data on the "habitable zones" of stars, where planets with liquid water might exist.