583K views · Jul 18, 2020 · 23:32 · 10 HN recommenders · 20 mentions · discussed 2020–2025
Explains the proposed NASA JPL plan to use the Sun as a gravitational lens, sending solar sail craft to its focal region to image an exoplanet's surface. It covers the distances involved, how imaging with the Sun would work and the mission design.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN strongly recommends it as the clearest, best-illustrated explanation of the solar gravitational lens idea, and links it whenever exoplanet imaging comes up.
“It's got some great graphics and visualisations, and is accessibly narrated.”HN comment, 2024
“is a great great video on the subject. I can't recommend enough”
Great explanation of solar gravitational lens imaging.
You CAN use for more than 1 target, you just need to reposition the telescope a bit. See [1], is a great great video on the subject. I can't recommend enough [1]: this video
“yes, can't recommend this enough!”
Fleet of lightsails with optics imaging exoplanets.
The whole concept is that we should launch a fleet of them every few months. Very lightweight semi-autonomous smart lightsails with some optics. The first fleet helps targeting the second, and all those who come after them. this video (already linked by a sibling comment, but yes, can't recommend this enough!)
“This video on gravitational lensing blew my mind”
Mind-blowing explanation of gravitational lensing for exoplanet imaging.
This is the space project that most excites me and the one I most hope we solve in my lifetime. Much more interesting than Mars (not that you can't do both). This video on gravitational lensing blew my mind this video What do you think the odds are of if it being done IRL?
“(The whole video is great.)”
Explains using the sun's gravitational lens to resolve exoplanet surfaces.
Forget Earth gravitational lenses, let's use the sun: this video (The whole video is great.) This setup could resolve the surfaces of exoplanets with its ~100 billion magnification. JPL is investigating.
“Forget everything else, we need to build THIS”
Shows a solar gravitational lens telescope array resolving exoplanet surface features.
Forget everything else, we need to build THIS : this video A telescope array that can use our sun's gravitational lens would enable us to resolve the surfaces of extrasolar planets. We could resolve surface features as small as 10 km across at a distance of 100 light years. JPL is actively investigating this. It's incredibly promising.
“It's got some great graphics and visualisations, and is accessibly narrated.”
Accessible 23-minute video with great graphics on NASA's solar gravitational lens plans.
Christian Ready made a great video on his Youtube channel, Launch Pad Astronomy, about NASA's plans for a solar gravitational lens. It's got some great graphics and visualisations, and is accessibly narrated. I was inspired and learnt a lot of new ideas. this video (23 minutes)
“There is a very high quality video about how Solar Gravitational Lens could be used to map exoplanets”
Covers exoplanet mapping, image reconstruction and engineering challenges in depth.
There is a very high quality video about how Solar Gravitational Lens could be used to map exoplanets, and full explanations about the images reconstruction and engineering challenges: this video
“It explains the extraordinary idea of using the sun as a gravitational lens.”
Explains using the sun as a gravitational lens.
I actually came across this video on HN a while back: this video It explains the extraordinary idea of using the sun as a gravitational lens.
“This video has a good description of the paper”
Good description of the paper on imaging exoplanets via the solar lens.
Plan to photograph an exoplanet 25 light years away with 25km per pixel resolution (2020) This is fascinating. There is a plan to directly photograph exoplanets by sending a series of telescopes 500+ AU in the opposite direction of what we want to photograph and using the sun as a gravitational lens. We send out waves of these small telescopes to get pictures at various focal planes. This video has a good description of the paper: this video
“...and an excellent video on the topic”
Excellent video on imaging exoplanets with a solar gravity lens.
"Direct Imaging of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravity Lens (1 Km Resolution)": link ...and an excellent video on the topic: this video
“This video linked by another commenter explains it quite well”
Explains well how exoplanet imaging works and why retargeting is infeasible.
This video linked by another commenter explains it quite well: this video Basically, it's possible to generate an image of an exoplanet, but "retargeting" the telescope(s) to observe another object is not feasible. So you'd better make sure the target that the mission will focus upon is actually worth the attention it gets - but there are other planned telescopes that will be capable of generating data that will allow selecting potential candidates.
“Someone also made an interesting Youtube video of the concept”
Interesting video of the solar gravitational lens concept.
And hopefully some day we'll build a solar-gravitation lens to look at the surface of one of these exoplanets: link ...with a very interesting video that someone made on that paper: Someone also made an interesting Youtube video of the concept: this video
“There is a nice video about the details on YouTube”
Details solar sail approach to reaching the solar lens focal region.
> A maintenance-free power source capable of lasting the 200 or so years it would take to make it to 542 AU It wouldn't take nearly that long. The proposal is to use solar sails. There is a nice video about the details on YouTube: this video
“A recent video talking about what it could take to get high resolution imagery of exoplanets.”
Using the sun as gravitational lens for exoplanet imaging.
A recent video talking about what it could take to get high resolution imagery of exoplanets. The video title is a bit hand wavy, but it basically involves using the sun as a gravitational lens: this video
Cited as a great future space project.
Its so interesting to watch this technology evolve, life and uncut. Its almost as if every other day another milestone is revealed. Especially as its a tech that one doesn't work with (mechanical engineering / rocket motor engineering etc). Looking forward for all the great space missions that will be made possible by this (europa, enceladus, more comet missions & many more space-telescopes), not so much for humanity becoming multi-planetary, as the scientific value is lower imo. E.g. a great project: this video
“I heard about this fascinating idea of using the gravitational lensing of our own sun to image the surface of exoplanets”
Fascinating idea of imaging exoplanet surfaces using sun's lensing.
I heard about this fascinating idea of using the gravitational lensing of our own sun to image the surface of exoplanets: this video It wouldn't look like any telescope you might have ever seen. Once we have a candidate exoplanet we want to take a picture of we would launch a flock of free-flying solar-sail propelled satellites in such an orbit that they get yeeted away from the sun on a trajectory opposite of the target exoplanet. They would travel to the "focal plane" of the sun's gravitational lens where the exoplanet's light is smeared to a ring around the sun which they collaboratively capture. Probably one such a pass wouldn't be enough, so we would need to send such flocks multiple times, like waves following on each other. What I love about the plan is that it is both super scifi, yet we already have all the components to make it happen if we want to.
Solar gravitational lens as a more visionary mission.
That seems to exemplify design by committee. So we'll learn that Uranus has 37% more lightning than we previously thought. I'd much rather see a Europa lander. Better yet, a Europa melt-though-the-ice probe. A solar gravitation lens for exoplanets [1] study fleshed out. A Venus blimp thingy. Mars polar lander. Something with more vision. [1] this video
“The Solar Gravitational Lens is very neat but with current propulsion technology it would take a very long time to get the satellites into position.”
Solar gravitational lens, though limited by propulsion.
The Solar Gravitational Lens is very neat but with current propulsion technology it would take a very long time to get the satellites into position. this video
This is fantastic, thank you! > and finally direct imaging isn't currently feasible for G-type stars like our sun. > Radial velocity requires about two orders of magnitude better detectors, astrometry requires about one order of magnitude more sensitive instruments, > direct imaging at resolutions that'd require a leap in technology and capabilities. Any wild guess for when we'll be able to build these? this video link Is this feasible at all?
That is awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of unscrambling the ring to see what the galaxy behind looks like. Hopefully someday we will be able to use a solar gravitation lens to look at neighboring exoplanets: this video link
