How would this kind of thing work in practice? You move the telescope out to 500AU, and then... what? I assume the telescope would have to line up a potential star system with our sun in a direct line. So the telescope would have to move around until everything is lined up. Then I presume it would need to take a wide angle view of that star system to look for a likely planet. Would it need to move closer or farther away from our sun to get a wider field of view? Once it found a suitable planet, I presume it would need to collect light from that planet over an extended period of time, say 6 months. But, the planet is moving during those six months. How does the telescope keep the planet in view? Is the telescope constantly moving to keep pace with the planet? How much fuel would we have to send out there with the telescope?
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