Joshua Liberman

Have you ever wondered if life exists on other planets? Or perhaps you have dreamt of another Earth-like planet floating somewhere out there in the universe. Astronomers like me ponder these same questions. The best way to determine whether or not a planet might contain life is to take a picture of the planet and collect its light. But this technique is very challenging. Stars produce their own light (think of a lightbulb that is always on), but rocky planets like ours do not. Instead, us astronomers must capture the small amount of light that is reflected off of a distant planet’s surface. In my work, I develop telescope instruments to block out starlight and collect planet light with the goal of one day finding the next Earth!