Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
AD - Download Opera for free and try it today: https://opr.as/Opera-browser-DrBecky-06 | We have found over 6,000 exoplanets - planets orbiting other stars out there in the Universe. But, we’ve still not managed to take an image of an Earth-like planet. Despite all our recent advancements in telescopes, stars are just so incredibly bright that they drown out the tiny amount of light reflected off their planets. But a brand new paper published by Soliman et al. has proposed a way of detecting Earth-like exoplanets in the most sci-fi way possible: not with a bigger space telescope, or with a better camera. But a 99-metre-wide umbrella, in space! This video explores the plan to use this ‘starshade’ with the next generation of ground-based telescopes, like the Extremely Large Telescope...
Soliman et al. (2026) - paywalled - nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02787-9
Mather et al. (2019) - https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2914386/view
Preumont et al. (2009) - sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0957415809001494
Grady et al. (2003) - iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/377083/pdf
Boccaletti et al. (2022) - aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2022/11/aa44578-22/aa44578-22.html
00:00 - Introduction
03:36 - I - Why we can’t directly image Earth-like exoplanets yet
06:34 - II - How a giant ‘starshade’ could help
10:42 - III - Why Soliman et al. think this could NOW work
12:26 - IV - How does this compare to what other telescopes are doing?
16:22 - Bloopers
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: martino.freelance@gmail.com
Video produced by Marina Hui & Dr Becky Smethurst
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📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
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👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
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🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
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🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
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👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
AD - Download Opera for free and try it today: https://opr.as/Opera-browser-DrBecky-06 | We have found over 6,000 exoplanets - planets orbiting other stars out there in the Universe. But, we’ve still not managed to take an image of an Earth-like planet. Despite all our recent advancements in telescopes, stars are just so incredibly bright that they drown out the tiny amount of light reflected off their planets. But a brand new paper published by Soliman et al. has proposed a way of detecting Earth-like exoplanets in the most sci-fi way possible: not with a bigger space telescope, or with a better camera. But a 99-metre-wide umbrella, in space! This video explores the plan to use this ‘starshade’ with the next generation of ground-based telescopes, like the Extremely Large Telescope...
Soliman et al. (2026) - paywalled - nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02787-9
Mather et al. (2019) - https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2914386/view
Preumont et al. (2009) - sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0957415809001494
Grady et al. (2003) - iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/377083/pdf
Boccaletti et al. (2022) - aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2022/11/aa44578-22/aa44578-22.html
00:00 - Introduction
03:36 - I - Why we can’t directly image Earth-like exoplanets yet
06:34 - II - How a giant ‘starshade’ could help
10:42 - III - Why Soliman et al. think this could NOW work
12:26 - IV - How does this compare to what other telescopes are doing?
16:22 - Bloopers
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Martino Gasparrini: martino.freelance@gmail.com
Video produced by Marina Hui & Dr Becky Smethurst
---
📚 My book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): lnk.to/DrBecky
---
👕 My merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): dr-becky.teemill.com
---
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
---
🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
---
👩🏽💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
