VLT to search Alpha Centauri
The ESO telescope will be used to scan for exoplanets
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is to search for exoplanets around nearby star Alpha Centauri, in a recently announced partnership with the Breakthrough Starshot initiative.
Breakthrough Starshot, an endeavour backed by Stephen Hawking, is investigating the feasibility of sending a fleet of nanospacecraft to the star. Now it has enlisted the help of the VLT to search the Alpha Centauri system for potential targets of interest. The VLT can observe in the infrared, a wavelength at which exoplanets glow brightly making it easy to find them. However, the light of the star is still a million times brighter, blinding instruments to potential planets.
By modifying the VLT’s VISIR spectrometer, the telescope will be able to perform coronography, where the bright light of the star is blocked out. This will allow VISIR to pick up the infrared glow of orbiting worlds. http://breakthroughinitiatives.org