2018/03/12 by Slava G. Turyshev, Turyshev, Slava G., Michael Shao +37
Physics and Astronomy · #Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1803.04319
openalex publication_date 2018/03/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Solar Gravitational Lens (SGL) allows for major brightness amplification (∼ 1011 at wavelength of 1~μm) and extreme angular resolution (∼10-10 arcsec) within a narrow field of view. A meter-class telescope, with a modest coronagraph to block solar light with 1e-6 suppression placed in the focal area of the SGL, can image an exoplanet at a distance of 30 parsec with few kilometer-scale resolution on its surface. Notably, spectroscopic broadband SNR is ∼ 10-6 in two weeks of integration time, providing this instrument with incredible remote sensing capabilities. A mission capable of exploiting the remarkable optical properties of the SGL allows for direct high-resolution imaging/spectroscopy of a potentially habitable exoplanet. Such missions could allow exploration of exoplanets relying on the SGL capabilities decades, if not centuries, earlier than possible with other extant technologies.