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Scientists Want to Create an Artificial Eclipse in Space to Hunt for Alien Worlds

The proposed starshade would create an artificial eclipse in space, helping telescopes spot faint rocky planets hidden beside bright stars.

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For as much of a dark, inky void the universe is, the countless stars in it keep shining directly into the telescopes of researchers hunting for exoplanets. That’s why, according to Universe Today, a small NASA-led team has come up with a plan to essentially blot out the light from stars to see what is hiding behind the glare.

The idea, called the Hybrid Observatory for Earth-like Exoplanets, or HOEE, is to put a giant artificial........

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