Breakthrough Starshot Partners ESO To Search For Planets In The Alpha Centauri System - The Nearest Interstellar Star From Milky Way
Alpha Centauri is just four light-years away from Earth. Alpha Centauri has garnered attention from astronomers and researchers all over the globe due to its three-star system and Proxima Centauri which is an Earth-like planet that could have traces of life could be found in near future.
To set the expedition, Yuri Milner, a billionaire had funded Breakthrough Starshot that will conduct high-speed robotic voyages to Alpha Centauri. Many scientists believe that due to its sunlike stars across Alpha Centauri, it could be a better prospect for life-friendly worlds.
Scientific American recorded the recent announcement made by Yuri Milner of collaborating with European Southern Observatory. The Observatory will in turn capture images of planets in Alpha Centauri A and B from its Chile-based instrument. As an astronomer at the University of Arizona, Olivier Guyon extended a warm welcome for Yuri's initiative to partner with ESO. As these projects are extremely expensive and risky, many have been pushing it for years, however, with the funding from Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Starshot will help astronomers and researchers with ample of resources and funding to counter the risk associated with it.
Capturing images of planets across large distances is a challenge due to brighter stars which create blinding stellar light and hence, a new technique will be devised to reduce the blinding issue.
Science Daily elaborates the reports by stating the discovery of the third star of Alpha Centauri system touted as Proxima B in 2016 has aggravated the impact of research. The VLT instruments situated in Chile will help take high-resolution images of planets and other objects in Alpha Centauri using adaptive optics and a technique called coronagraph. A large chunk of funding will be made by Milner's initiative. Further, new hardware such as wavefront sensor, coronagraph, novel detector calibration device, etc will be included.
The main aim of the initiative is to spot potentially habitable planets in the Alpha Centauri System.