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cosurgi [pg.edu.pl] writes:

Note from submitter: this story was originally submitted by u/ModeHopper on reddit r/PhysicsPapers, a sub which I recently discovered.

The Proxima b exoplanet resides within the stellar habitable zone, possibly allowing for liquid water on its surface, as on Earth. Here we demonstrate an inversion technique to indirectly image exoplanet surfaces using observed unresolved reflected light variations over the course of the exoplanet’s orbital and axial rotation: ExoPlanet Surface Imaging (EPSI). We show that the reflected light curve contains enough information to detect both longitudinal and latitudinal structures and to map exoplanet surface features. We demonstrate this using examples of solar system planets and moons, as well as simulated planets with Earth-like life and artificial structures. We also describe how it is possible to infer the planet and orbit geometry from light curves.

[1] Berdyugina, S. V.; Kuhn, J. R. "Surface Imaging of Proxima b and Other Exoplanets: Albedo Maps, Biosignatures, and Technosignatures" The Astronomical Journal, DOI DOI 10.3847/1538-3881/ab2df3 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019AJ....158..246B/abstract [harvard.edu]
[2] Link to figures: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019AJ....158..246B/graphics [harvard.edu]

Original Submission