'Could find exoplanets’: How NASA's new Quantum Coronagraph could be the key to finding alien homes
Produced by Abhinav Yadav
Produced by Abhinav Yadav
A new coronagraph technology could block starlight, revealing hidden exoplanets. Developed by the University of Arizona, it could find Earth-like worlds drowned in their star’s glare, a game-changer for alien life searches.
It uses atom interferometry, where lasers split and recombine supercooled atoms to measure tiny shifts in gravity—allowing it to detect planets a billion times dimmer than their stars. It's like hearing a whisper in the middle of a storm
It filters starlight to study habitable zone planets. It could also detect atmospheres & bio-signatures (oxygen, methane).
Light has 'notes.' A mode sorter filters out the starlight while preserving the light from the planet. An inverse sorter then reconstructs the image—showing only the planet, with the star removed.
It has been tested with a fake star (1,000 times brighter than a planet). Coronagraph spotted the planet even when it was too close for normal telescopes.
By fixing light 'leaks' (crosstalk), the technology boosts precision—and could also benefit medical imaging and communications. Future upgrades may promise even sharper images of space.
NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory may use this in space for research. It could directly image Earth like planets and even signs of life in deep space.