VLT to Search for Planets around Alpha Centauri
ESO and the Breakthrough Initiatives have agreed to upgrade an instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope.
Here are five reasons why this agreement could be a milestone for humanity's dream of interstellar travel:
The Alpha Centauri system consists of three stars orbiting each other — the closest star system to the Earth, just 4-light-years away.
Astronomers using an ESO telescope recently found a planet around one of the stars in the system, Proxima Centauri
The closest possible abode for life outside our Solar System.
#PaleRedDot anyone?
But no telescope today has actually seen any planets directly in the Alpha Centauri system — the stars are too bright and the planets drown in their glare.
But the upgraded Very Large Telescope could be powerful enough to spot a planet around Alpha Centauri!
Hashtag: Life Goals
Breaktrhough Initiatives aim to launch ultra-fast, light-driven "nanocrafts" to the system within a generation.
Interstellar Travel, check!
bite-sized astronomy
Produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory. Reaching new heights in Astronomy
ESO. Music: Paulo Raimundo. Footage and photos: ESO, Breakthrough Initiatives, Gianluca Lombardi (glphoto.it), Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org), B.Tafreshi (twanight.org), S.Brunier and C.Malin (christophmalin.com)
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