Somewhere in the long human effort to learn whether other worlds resemble our own, a new instrument is being prepared before it has even left the ground. Lazuli, a privately funded space telescope backed by former Google chief Eric Schmidt, is set to launch by 2029 with a mirror wider than Hubble's, and researchers have now chosen the first 27 giant planets it should study. The choice reflects a quiet shift in method: rather than watching planets by the heat they still glow with, the telescope will read the faint light they reflect from their stars, a way that reaches older, cooler worlds and
Lazuli Telescope Eyes 27 Giant Exoplanets as First Private Space Observatory Takes Shape
A private space telescope is something not seen before.
Mark
Why does it matter that Lazuli looks at reflected light?
Mimi
Because so far every directly imaged exoplanet has been seen by its own heat. That heat fades with age, so older planets disappear. Reflected starlight doesn't fade that way, so mature systems come into reach.
Mark
And it can see planets closer to their stars?
Mimi
Yes, the shorter visible and near-infrared wavelengths give finer resolution than thermal imaging. The source adds that this is a simplified picture.
Luke
Worth saying plainly: none of this has been done yet. The paper says reflected-light imaging is on the near horizon, not that it has happened.
Mark
Why only 27 targets, all giants?
Mimi
The contrasts are extreme, around one part in ten million to a billion, and exposures could run tens to hundreds of hours. So the authors chose planets with well-known orbits to avoid wasting time.
Luke
Note that the authors themselves say blind searches would be hard for a 3-meter telescope. The list is a proposal from two researchers, not a confirmed observing schedule.
Mark
What about the biosignature angle?
Mimi
The authors say this approach opens a pathway toward it, but these targets are gas giants. The paper doesn't claim any of them is a candidate for life.
Luke
And the private ownership question is unknown. The reporting says it's unclear whether it helps, hurts, or both. Nobody can answer that before launch, which is targeted for 2029.
Le Pouls
- A 3-meter private telescope, the first of its kind, is racing toward a 2029 launch with ambitions to image planets directly.
- Reflected starlight is hard to catch: contrasts of one part in ten million to one in a billion demand tens to hundreds of hours of exposure.
- Researchers are narrowing the odds by targeting only 27 giant planets whose orbits are already well mapped, from Beta Pictoris b to 55 Cancri d.
- The list pushes direct imaging into older, colder planetary regimes, with other observatories like METIS and Roman ready to add their views.
- Whether private ownership sharpens or complicates exoplanet science remains unresolved until the telescope is flying and its first long exposures return results.
Somewhere in the long human effort to learn whether other worlds resemble our own, a new instrument is being prepared before it has even left the ground. Lazuli, a privately funded space telescope backed by former Google chief Eric Schmidt, is set to launch by 2029 with a mirror wider than Hubble's, and researchers have now chosen the first 27 giant planets it should study. The choice reflects a quiet shift in method: rather than watching planets by the heat they still glow with, the telescope will read the faint light they reflect from their stars, a way that reaches older, cooler worlds and planets nearer their suns. Whether a privately owned observatory can deliver on that promise remains an open question that only its years in orbit will answer.
A paper posted to arXiv this year does something practical for a telescope that has not yet left the ground: it chooses the first 27 planets it will look at. The telescope is Lazuli, expected to be the first privately owned space observatory, founded by Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google. It is slated to launch by 2029 with a 3-meter mirror, wider than Hubble's, carrying three instruments, including the ExtraSolar Coronagraph, or ESC.
The target list comes from Logan Pearce and Ewan Douglas, whose paper focuses on how the ESC will see planets: through the starlight they reflect rather than the heat they give off. Direct images so far have relied on thermal glow, which fades as planets age. Reflected light does not fade in the same way, so the ESC can study mature systems, and its visible and near-infrared wavelengths allow it to resolve planets closer to their stars.
The method is costly. Contrasts run from one part in ten million to one in a billion, and exposures stretch from tens to hundreds of hours. To make this feasible for a 3-meter telescope, the authors chose only giants with well-constrained orbits. Familiar names include 55 Cancri d, HD 181433 d, and Beta Pictoris b, one of the first planets ever directly imaged. Some targets may also be observed by METIS and the Roman Space Telescope, which together could build a fuller picture of each planet's atmosphere.
What Lazuli will deliver is still uncertain. A private telescope has no precedent, and it is unclear whether private ownership will make it more efficient, introduce unforeseen problems, or both. Its long exposures on these 27 worlds will be an early test of that question.
A paper posted to arXiv this year does something practical for a telescope that has not yet left the ground: it picks the first 27 planets for it to look at. The telescope is Lazuli, which is expected to be the first privately owned space observatory. The planets are all giants, and the list is meant to guide the first campaign of its coronagraph.
Lazuli is the brainchild of Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google. It is slated to launch by 2029 with a 3-meter mirror, or 9.8 feet. That is wider than the 2.4-meter (7.9-foot) mirror on Hubble. The telescope will carry three instruments: a wide-field optical imager, an integral field spectrograph, and the ExtraSolar Coronagraph, or ESC.
The target list comes from Logan Pearce of the University of Michigan's Department of Astronomy and Ewan Douglas of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. Their paper is titled "The first selection of optimal targets for the Lazuli ExtraSolar Coronagraph's reflected starlight exoplanet campaign." It centers on how the ESC will see planets: by the starlight they bounce back, not by the heat they give off.
The difference matters. Every exoplanet imaged directly so far has been seen through its own thermal glow. That glow is leftover heat from formation, and it fades as a planet ages, so older planets grow dim. Reflected starlight does not fade with age, which lets the ESC study mature systems. Working at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, roughly 0.5 to 2 microns, also allows sharper resolution than thermal imaging, so the instrument can reach planets closer to their stars. The authors write that spatially resolved imaging of planets by reflected light is on the near horizon, and that it opens the door to probing biosignatures.
The approach has a steep cost. Reflected-light detection involves contrasts on the order of one part in ten million to one part in a billion, and the exposures run from tens to hundreds of hours. For a 3-meter-class observatory, the authors say, that makes blind searches hard. Their answer is to aim only at planets whose orbits are already well known, so that observing time can be scheduled for the best chance of a detection. That is why all 27 targets are known giants with well-constrained orbits.
Some will be familiar to followers of the field. 55 Cancri d is a Jupiter analog. HD 181433 d follows a highly eccentric orbit and belongs to a system that also includes an ultrashort-period super-Earth. Beta Pictoris b was among the first exoplanets ever directly imaged, and it interacts with a well-known debris disk.
The authors say the list covers ages and temperatures not yet probed by direct imaging. Some targets could also be observed by the thermal imager METIS on the Extremely Large Telescope, and by the coronagraphic instrument on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Combining those views, they write, should give a fuller picture of each planet's atmosphere. Their conclusion is that the list pushes direct imaging of gas giants into colder regimes than before.
What Lazuli will actually deliver is still open. A private space telescope has no precedent, and it is not yet clear whether private ownership will make it more efficient, create problems no one has anticipated, or both. The measure will be what it adds to exoplanet science once it is flying, with the ESC's long exposures on these 27 worlds an early test.
Citations marquantes
Our target list spans ages and temperatures of planets not probed before by direct imaging.— Logan Pearce and Ewan Douglas, study authors
The high contrasts and long exposure times make uninformed searches challenging for a 3m class observatory.— Pearce and Douglas, study authors (paraphrased)
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