Occulting Telescope

[[A person is giving a lecture in front of a white board, pointing to a diagram with a pointer.]] Lecturer: The occulting observatory consists of two parts -- the telescome and the discs. When the telescope sees a star, a disc is carefully steered to block its light. [[A diagram of a satellite (labeled "telescope") with waves going from it on the left, across to the other side of the diagram (labeled "light from star") on the right. In the middle is a small vertical line (labeled "disc"), stopping some of the light waves from the right traveling to the left of the diagram.]] This procedure is repeated until all stars are covered. [[The lecturer looks down at a student.]] Student (off screen): Wait, all? Why? Lecturer: I'll feel better. [[Close-up on lecturer.]] Student (off-screen): I thought the point was to image extrasolar planets. Lecturer: The point is that there are too many stars. -- It's been freaking me out. Student: What? Student#2 (in smaller letters): He has a point... {{Title text: Type II Kardashev civilizations eventually completely enclose their planetary system in a Dyson sphere because space is way too big to look at all the time.}}

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