How to Spy on Alpha Centauri and Other Binary Stars to Hunt Exoplanets

Direct imaging of exoplanets requires a way to blot out the overwhelming glare of a star. Most systems featuring sunlike stars "are actually multi[-star systems]," Ruslan Belikov, an astronomer at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said during a session at the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society here Wednesday (Jan. 7). "Alpha Centauri, which is the closest star to us, would be by far the best target [for direct imaging] … if it wasn't binary," he added.