In the far future, we could reveal detailed views of distant worlds by turning our home star into a gravitational lens Diagram showing a conceptual imaging technique that uses the sun’s gravitational field to magnify light from exoplanets. This would allow for highly advanced reconstructions of what exoplanets look like. We now know of more than 5,000 exoplanets beyond the solar system. What we really understand about each of these worlds, though, is barely anything at all. Most of them have been seen only indirectly from their shadows as they cross in front of the stars they orbit. The...
