Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Science

The radical propulsion needed to catch the solar gravitational lens

Sending a mission to the solar gravitational lens (SGL) is the most effective way of actually directly imaging a potentially habitable planet, as well as its atmosphere, and even possibly some of its cities. But, the SGL is somewhere around 650–900 AU away, making it almost four times farther than e...

The radical propulsion needed to catch the solar gravitational lens
Image: Phys.org
Sending a mission to the solar gravitational lens (SGL) is the most effective way of actually directly imaging a potentially habitable planet, as well as its atmosphere, and even possibly some of its cities. But, the SGL is somewhere around 650–900 AU away, making it almost four times farther than even Voyager 1 has traveled—and that's the farthest anything human has made it so far.

Originally published at Phys.org

The Morning Briefing

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Be the first to receive the latest news, market analysis and updates — delivered straight to your inbox.