The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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In nulling interferometry, light from a distant star (red beams) hits each telescope, labelled T1 and T2, simultaneously. Before the resultant light beams are combined, the beam from one telescope is delayed by half a wavelength. This means that when the rays are brought together, peaks from one telescope line up with troughs from the other and so are cancelled out (represented by the straight red line), leaving no starlight.
Light from a planet (blue beams), orbiting the star, enters the telescopes at an angle. This introduces a delay in the light reaching the second telescope. So, even after the half wavelength change in one of the rays, when the beams are combined they are reinforced (represented by the large blue waves) rather than cancelled out.
Illustration by Medialab.