Space Imaging Technique May Help Discover Earth-Like Planets

The challenge of finding Earth-like planets orbiting stars that could potentially harbor life, or lend a place for life to grow, has remained one of the biggest in astrophysics for years. Normally used telescopes lack the ability to directly image smaller objects because the brighter light of their stars often hide them in the glow.

This problem is often referred to as the "candle next to the lighthouse" problem. The name grants it little justice - the problem is often much, much worse. Current instrument technology is very complex and expensive and still a ways off from achieving direct images of Earth-like planets," astrophysicist Daniel Batcheldor said. 

However, in a study from the Florida Institute of Technology led by Batcheldor, researchers discovered that a CID - charge injection device - can capture the light of objects that are millions of times dimmer than other objects in the same frame, like an exoplanet next to a bright star.

CIDs are cameras that have been in use since the 1970s that make use of each individual pixel independently, allowing the brightest ones to be indexed immediately while the dimmer ones gather additional light, according to a press release.

"If this technology can be added to future space missions, it may help us make some profound discoveries regarding our place in the universe," Batcheldor said.

Batcheldor's team took a CID and used it on the Institute's 0.8-meter telescope, which allowed them to see objects 70 million times fainter than the glow of Sirius, the Dog Star. This was made more exciting for the team because it was done through Florida's thick, rather less-than-perfect atmosphere, and even with that in mind, the CID performed 1,000 times better than an average astronomical camera.

"Personally, I like very simple, straightforward solutions, especially when there is a complex problem," Batcheldor said. "The CID is able to look at a very bright source next to a very faint source and not experience much of the image degradation you would normally experience with a typical camera."

He plans to test the CID later this year on the Canary Islands, and announced that a prototype CID is being built for the International Space Station. 

The study was published in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

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