A new initiative called "Project Blue" aims to spy on our interstellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri, to capture an unprecedented visible-light image of any Earth-like planets that might orbit there. The two stars of Alpha Centauri, along with the associated red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, are the closest stars outside our solar system — and the Alpha Centauri stars are by far the closest sun-like stars to Earth's system. "There is an extremely high level of urgency and desire on the part of the astronomical community to get out there and find exoplanets that we can actually image and characterize around nearby stars," said Jon Morse, CEO of the BoldlyGo Institute, one of the project's leaders.
Read More http://ift.tt/2dsYZvN
No comments:
Post a Comment