The shape of the Illustrated "star shade" is puzzling to me. I would think it would be better to use a simple disc or sphere.
This is just an artist's view, but are the "rays" usefull ? Something to do with interference ?
this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/1015/flower-power-nasa-reveals-spring-starshade-animation/
The flower-shaped petals are part of what makes the starshade so effective. “The shape of the petals, when seen from far away, creates a softer edge that causes less bending of light waves,” said Dr. Stuart Shaklan, JPL’s lead engineer on the starshade project. “Less light bending means that the starshade shadow is very dark, so the telescope can take images of the planets without being overwhelmed by starlight .”
Okay so this is useful.
So it's better that my previous comment was not :
Oh look ! They made this cute little "children's drawing" sun like ☀️ shade ! Lol !
I'm now happy I refrain to my first impulse to write that 😋