<p>As Conrad Turner notes, that talk is about a device for blocking the light from <em>another</em> star (one you think might have planets orbiting around it). It's not for blocking the light of the Sun!</p>

<p>If you try to look at a planet orbiting around another star, the glare from the star makes it very hard to see the planet. By placing a specially shaped device in front of the telescope (in this case, thousands of kilometers in front), between the telescope and the star you're interested in, you block most of the light from the star, but not the light from any planets near that star.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Worlds_Mission" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Worlds_Mission</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T10:04:52.307Z
2016-04-13T10:04:52.307Z
Peter Erwin
<p>I've <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_kasdin_the_flower_shaped_starshade_that_might_help_us_detect_earth_like_planets" rel="nofollow">heard</a> that some astronomers are building an artifical solar-eclipse ship, that should help us to dim the diffraction of the Sun.</p>

<p>Why don't we just wait till night? What is the function of the eclipse-ship really?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T07:41:28.870Z
The video is about a star-shade not a Sun shade. It is to reduce the glare from a star so that we could possibly see the system's planets.
Conrad Turner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T09:01:50.110Z
@ConradTurner consider posting an answer as you seem to know what you are talking about ;)
Jaywalker
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T12:29:20.410Z
@Jaywalker I'm too late ;(
Conrad Turner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-13T20:05:52.063Z
Because there are [too many stars](https://xkcd.com/975/).
DylanSp
<the-sun><telescope><observational-astronomy>
Why would astronomers want to eclipse the Sun?
Probably
# Why would astronomers want to eclipse the Sun?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-13)

I've [heard](http://www.ted.com/talks/jeremy_kasdin_the_flower_shaped_starshade_that_might_help_us_detect_earth_like_planets) that some astronomers are building an artifical solar-eclipse ship, that should help us to dim the diffraction of the Sun.

Why don't we just wait till night? What is the function of the eclipse-ship really?

**Tags:** the-sun, telescope, observational-astronomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The video is about a star-shade not a Sun shade. It is to reduce the glare from a star so that we could possibly see the system's planets.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 consider posting an answer as you seem to know what you are talking about ;)  
> **username_1**: @username_2 I'm too late ;(  
> **username_3**: Because there are [too many stars](https://xkcd.com/975/).  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2016-04-13. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

As username_1 username_1 notes, that talk is about a device for blocking the light from *another* star (one you think might have planets orbiting around it). It's not for blocking the light of the Sun!

If you try to look at a planet orbiting around another star, the glare from the star makes it very hard to see the planet. By placing a specially shaped device in front of the telescope (in this case, thousands of kilometers in front), between the telescope and the star you're interested in, you block most of the light from the star, but not the light from any planets near that star.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Worlds_Mission>


---

