Gravitational Lensing

If you've seen Star Trek IV (the whale episode), you might be aware that things have been whipped around the sun before. And despite how incredibly fanciful that movie was, the concept of using gravity from the sun to move objects is based on scientific principles. Gravitational lensing is a technique that could aid in the detection of extraterrestrial transmissions.

The gravitational attraction of a large enough object can even bend light. As a result, it will also concentrate and amplify that light. It has been suggested by researchers that communications transmissions can also be distorted and narrowed. That implies that stars like the sun might be utilized to broadcast and loop signals throughout the galaxy, much like terrestrial satellite networks.We could set up a satellite relay so that we could listen in on any other race of creatures who employed stars in this manner.

But communication isn't everything. There is additional research being done on how the sun affects light. We can see extraterrestrial worlds much more clearly if we can arrange a spacecraft or satellite so that its light is twisted and then focussed by our sun. The sun would essentially transform into a solar telescope for us, enlarging the vista. The capacity to achieve a resolution of 20 kilometers per pixel, in the opinion of at least one researcher, would have astounding results. sufficient for identifying continents and even weather patterns on other planets.