Astronomers have been detecting exoplanets for more than 15 years, but actually snapping a picture of one has proved a little more challenging than astronomers would like. Why? Because the light from stars is billions of times brighter than that of a dim, far off exoplanet.

Getting a clear picture of a small, rocky exoplanet that orbits a bright star is like trying to find a black cat in a coal cellar. Enter Starshade, a large, disc-shaped object that is placed in front of a telescope in space. Using this technology, we can theoretically block out light from the stars, allowing the telescope to take high-resolution images of exoplanets that orbit those stars.

We aren’t quite there yet, and the technology needs more refining, but NASA’s starshade engineers are optimistic for the future.