Earlier quoted context omitted.
> multi pixel imaging of the planet would be required to claim direct observation. Here is an interesting proposal for direct imaging of an exoplanet with 1 km resolution: https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421 ...and an interesting youtube video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI
It's a cool idea. Unfortunately getting something out to 550 AU and stopping there would take the better part of a century even with advanced technology. And once you're there, you're really stuck in terms of what you can look at. You can only see what's on the other side of the sun, and with an orbital period of 12800 years, it's not like you're going to sweep out much of the sky in a reasonable timeframe.
If you skip to 14:38 in the video, they describe the solar sails that are supposed to be able to accelerate things to 22 AU/year, which get things to 550AU in 25 years. But yes, you are only going to be able to look at one thing once you get there.