Scientists have devised a radical plan to use the sun as a massive telescope, tapping into an effect known as gravitational lensing to view alien worlds in ultra-high resolution.
The plan, revealed by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory during a recent workshop, could allow us to glimpse exoplanets in unprecedented detail, revealing their ‘surface features and signs of habitability.’
While most systems now rely on just a few pixels to view distant worlds, a device of this kind would essentially use the sun’s gravity as a magnifying glass to achieve 1000×1000 pixel imaging
