- Exoplanets are hard to detect and even harder to photograph. Is there a better way to do this?
- Quantum computers can be used to improve these images, say researchers from Harvard University. They can also distinguish different molecules on planets.
- The system would use two quantum computers, one of diamonds and the other of extremely cold atoms.
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Quantum computers and exoplanets
Exoplanets – worlds orbiting distant stars – are hard to detect and even harder to acquire. But quantum computers he could improve those pictures.
Scientists from Harvard University he said Jan. 12, 2026, that by combining two kinds of quantum computers — one made of diamonds and the other of extremely cold atoms — astronomers could get clearer pictures of exoplanets.
Using quantum computers quantum mechanics for unprecedented computing power. Quantum mechanics is a bizarre but fundamental physics theory that describes the behavior of matter and light.
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan he wrote about an interesting idea in The new scientist on January 12, 2026.
The new paper was accepted for publication in the diary PRX Quantum on December 12, 2025.
Quantum computers could help sharpen our images of exoplanets. Light emanating from alien worlds carries quantum information that can help create better pictures of planets.
— New Scientist (@newscientist.com) 2026-01-17T16:13:09.232Z
Weak signals from distant planets
Even the largest exoplanets are not easy to detect. Because they are so far away, their light is extremely faint, overshadowed by the much brighter light of their stars. Light from other stars can also help hide them.
Direct imaging of exoplanets is even more difficult. Of the more than 6,000 exoplanets found so far, only a small number have been photographed. And yet they still look like points of light. But that could soon change.
Using quantum methods to see exoplanets
This is where quantum computers come in. In a new study Johannes Borregaard and his colleagues at Harvard University say that the use of quantum computers could significantly improve image resolution.
Most other methods struggle to process the weak signals—photons in light—coming from the planets. But quantum computers could have a huge advantage.
They would require only hundredths or even thousandths of the number of photons needed to form an image. As Cosmo wolf at the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy he explained:
Photons obey the rules of quantum mechanics. Therefore, it is natural and makes sense to explore quantum methods for detecting and processing light coming from, for example, exoplanets.
It might even be possible to distinguish the “fingerprints” of different molecules on the planet.
Diamonds and extremely cold atoms
A quantum computer could store the quantum states of incoming photons. It would then use their quantum properties to extract information about the exoplanet. This quantum computer would be made of specially treated diamonds.
Scientists have already tested such devices for other purposes.
This first computer would then communicate the quantum states to the second quantum computer. This one is more sophisticated and would actually produce images. Rather than diamonds, this computer would consist of extremely cold atoms.
This concept of imaging exoplanets is still quite new. However, astronomers have already used it to image a star in the constellation Canis Minor. Wolf he said:
I am excited to see how quantum computing will impact imaging and astronomy in the future. The new work is an important first step in this direction.
Bottom line: Distant planets around other stars are difficult to visualize. But quantum computers could help astronomers see them better.
Source: Improving optical imaging with quantum computing
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