Megapixel Exoplanet Imaging in Weeks not Years via Gravitational Lens Missions

Slava G. Turyshev and his team are on their phase III NASA NIAC project to develop a solar gravitational lens telescope. At optical or near-optical wavelengths, the amplification of light is on the order of 200 billion times and with equally impressive angular resolution. If we can reach this region beginning at 550 AU from …

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Supernova Death of Red Giant Directly Observed for 130 Days

Astronomers have imaged in real-time the dramatic end to a red supergiant’s life, watching the massive star’s rapid self-destruction and final death throes before it collapsed into a Type II supernova. “I am most excited by all of the new ‘unknowns’ that have been unlocked by this discovery,” says Jacobson-Galán. “Detecting more events like SN …

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James Webb Space Telescopes Merry Xmas 2021

James Webb Space Telescope—the most powerful space telescope ever made is in space. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging …

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What Kind of Civilization Could Prevent New Ideas from Succeeding?

Nextbigfuture has said that Elon Musk is wrong to say that immortality would be a bad thing. Elon said “It is important for us to die because most of the time people don’t change their mind, they just die,” Musk said at the WSJ event. “If you live forever, we might become a very ossified …

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2022 Should See Start of Technology Demos Leading to High Resolution Exoplanet Imaging

A NASA NIAC Phase III is developing and plans to fly a 2022 TDM (Technology Demonstration Mission) to prove the SGLF’s (Solar Gravitational Lens Focus) mission architecture. They will then prepare a near-term (by 2024), low-cost (less than $40M) mission to fly through the solar system faster than any spacecraft ever ~7 AU/year, capable of …

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Alien Microbe Life on Numerous Super Earth Exoplanets Should Be Observed By 2025

Ocean covered exoplanets that are up to 2.6 times bigger than Earth should have microbial life which the James Webb Space Telescope should detect. The James Webb should launch this year. Planets of this size dominate the known exoplanet population, although they have not been studied in nearly as much detail as super-Earths. Hycean worlds …

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