We’re sending a tiny telescope—only 12 centimeters wide—into space to hunt for Earth-like planets next door.
arXiv · March 17, 2026 · 2603.14683
The Takeaway
We usually assume finding rocky planets requires massive, billion-dollar space telescopes like James Webb. The TOLIMAN mission uses a radical 'unorthodox' lens design to detect the tiny gravitational wobbles of planets around Alpha Centauri using a device small enough to fit in a backpack.
From the abstract
The TOLIMAN project is engaged with the construction, launch and operation of a low-cost space telescope of unorthodox optical design. Its primary science goal targets an exhaustive search for temperate-orbit rocky planets around either star in the alpha Centauri AB binary within our nearest-neighbor star system. Despite their favorable proximity and brightness, the detection of terrestrial exoplanets around such nearby Sun-like stars remains problematic for contemporary instrumental approaches.