1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,030 [Music throughout] A coronagraph is a way to see distant 2 00:00:05,050 --> 00:00:08,980 planets hidden by the glare of the star they orbit. 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,980 The coronagraph reduces the light coming directly from the star to separate it from 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,980 the light reflected by the planet. The Nancy Grace Roman Space 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,980 Telescope's coronagraph doesn’t block the star’s light with an opaque disk 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,980 as a simple coronagraph might. Instead, it uses 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,980 a combination of disks with complex patterns and light-blocking stops 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,980 to create destructive interference with the star’s light, 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,980 effectively making it disappear, while allowing the light from planets to pass through. 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,980 A complicating factor is that the light picks up small 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,980 distortions as it reflects off the telescope’s series of mirrors, and 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,980 these distortions can reduce the effectiveness of the destructive interference. 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,980 Collecting more light increases the image signal, but the planets are still 14 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,980 hidden under blobs of leftover distorted starlight. To 15 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,980 remove these blobs, the coronagraph has special deformable mirrors that 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,980 can change shape by using hundreds of tiny pistons. This corrects 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,980 distortions in the light beam. As the mirrors deform, the 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,980 blobs of light slowly begin to disappear, revealing brighter planets. 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,980 Further adjustment brings fainter planets into view. 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,980 Advanced software processes this data, further improving the 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,980 contrast and clarity of the image. This processing makes 22 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,980 objects more than a billion times fainter than the star visible. 23 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,980 As a result, the Roman Space Telescope will provide the first look at 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,980 individual planets in star systems that might be similar to our own. 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,980 [Explore: Solar system & beyond] 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:46,486 [NASA]