Why has direct imaging found so few exoplanets?
A)Direct imaging is only possible using military satellites.
B)Direct imaging only works if the planet is orbiting a brown dwarf.
C)Only a few attempts have been made to directly image an extrasolar planet.
D)Exoplanets are faint and are usually close to their parent stars.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Direct imaging involves actually seeing the exoplanet, which is difficult because they are usually located close to their parent stars and are much fainter in comparison. This makes it hard for telescopes to distinguish between the light of the star and that of the planet, hence why direct imaging has found so few exoplanets. Direct imaging is a challenging technique because exoplanets are usually very faint and located close to their parent stars, making it difficult to distinguish them from the star's glare. Additionally, direct imaging requires advanced technology and large telescopes, which has limited the number of attempts and the number of planets detected by this method. The other choices are incorrect since direct imaging is not limited to military satellites, does not only work for brown dwarfs, and there have been several attempts to directly image exoplanets.

Why Has Direct Imaging Found So Few Exoplanets