Launch Pad Astronomy
10 HN recommenders · recommended in 15 months, 2020–2025
23:32 · 583K views · Jul 18, 2020
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.
HN strongly recommends it as the clearest, best-illustrated explanation of the solar gravitational lens idea, and links it whenever exoplanet imaging comes up.
20 comments from Hacker News
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.
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!)
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)
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?
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.