NASA plans to make a telescope out of the Sun

[JA]

For something different:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/15/nasa-plans-to-make-a-telescope-out-of-the-sun/


Best
JA

[gary]

Thanks JA, but you might want to check and edit the link as it is not a valid URL.

The story also appears here :-
https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/15/nasa-plans-to-make-a-telescope-out-of-the-sun/

[JA]

Thanks Gary, that's the page I linked to (and now relinked), but somehow my original cut/paste was NQR. Thanks

Best
JA

[bojan]

The ultimate telescope...

[Shiraz]

what a cool idea.

and if you use the sun as a lens this end at this end and set up a similar system on the other side of Alpha Centauri, you could communicate across the intervening light years using a laser pointer - apparently less than a mW would do..Maybe future SETI could be based on something like this

[rally]

Wow - A 1000x1000 pixel image of an exoplanet !!!

Only need to move your telescope a 100AU's to slew to the next target !

[geolindon]

thanks JA for another interesting link :thumbsup:

are our outer planets massive enough to provide a lesser but more accessible effect?
eg Jupiter at 1,000th of the sun's mass ?and 1,000th of the magnification at ??1,000th the distance ie .55 au :question:
at 550 au the Sun lense/magnifies from a couple of pixels to 1,000x1,000 so Jupiter would give us 33x33 ?? still damn awesome!

it can't be that simple, can it :question: 'please explain'
L

[Shiraz]

I think that it works the other way Lindon - Jupiter has much less mass than the sun, so the light focuses much further out - by some estimates, the focal zone starts at maybe 5000AU.

[Gizmo]

Nice!
I wonder what the maths are for mass versus focal point distance.

I also remember reading some time ago the idea of using lasers to heat the atmosphere (likes we need more of that ;) ) in such an exact way that the a section of the atmosphere could then act as a lens :)