ESA reveals the first stunning images of an artificial solar eclipse created by Proba-3 satellites
The
European Space Agency
's
Proba-3 mission
has achieved a major milestone by capturing its first images of the Sun's faint outer atmosphere, known as the solar corona. This was made possible by two spacecraft flying in precise formation to create the world's first
artificial solar eclipse in space
.
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One satellite blocked the Sun's bright disk, allowing the second to image the hidden corona in exceptional detail. This innovative approach overcomes the limitations of ground-based observations and natural eclipses. The images offer valuable insights into solar activity, space weather, and the Sun's influence on Earth, marking a new era in solar research.
Proba-3 creates first artificial solar eclipse in space
Proba-3 is made up of two spacecraft, the Coronagraph and the Occulter, that fly 150 metres separated in perfect synchrony.
In March, the mission achieved a first ever in space: the satellites kept their alignment to within a millimetre for several hours without any intervention from ground control.
This unprecedented precision is made possible by sophisticated onboard navigation and position systems, enabling the Occulter to project a perfectly aligned shadow onto the instrument of the Coronagraph, ASPIICS. During these formation-flying exercises, the 1.4-meter disk on the Occulter spacecraft eclipses the Sun's brilliant surface so that the Coronagraph's ASPIICS instrument can study the solar corona in detail.
The 8 cm wide shadow on ASPIICS is all that results, but it provides a clean, unbroken view of the outer atmosphere of the Sun. Built under the leadership of ESA by a consortium led by Belgium's Centre Spatial de Liège, ASPIICS takes corona pictures without the solar glare due to its 5 cm aperture being carefully shielded.
Source: ESA
Proba-3's early images offer new insights into solar storms
It is necessary to understand the corona in order to study solar wind and coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—great solar particle blasts that can interrupt Earth's communications, navigation systems, and power grids, as evidenced by a powerful geomagnetic storm in May 2024.
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The first ASPIICS pictures already suggest that the mission may bring new understanding of these lively solar phenomena. Dietmar Pilz, ESA's Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, stressed that several of the technologies used in Proba-3 were created under the umbrella of ESA's General Support Technology Programme.
"This is the world's first precision formation flying mission," stated Pilz, "and these marvelous images prove the feasibility of our technological innovation."
Source: ESA
Why the sun's outer layer is hotter than its surface: Proba-3 looks for answers
One of the Sun's biggest secrets is how its corona is millions of degrees hotter than its surface. ASPIICS will investigate this temperature paradox by imaging regions very near the Sun with little stray light, detecting even the slightest structures.
Project scientist Joe Zender says by using ASPIICS data along with onboard readings from instruments such as DARA (Digital Absolute Radiometer) and 3DEES (3D Energetic Electron Spectrometer), some of solar science's oldest mysteries will be solved.
Proba-3 achieves first eclipse on first attempt, marking a new era in solar observation
The first successful eclipse observation for the mission was on the first try. "I was really excited to see the images," stated Andrei Zhukov, ASPIICS Principal Investigator at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. His team at the ASPIICS Science Operations Centre (SOC) is developing the observation time to six hours per orbit.
Each integrated image of the corona is built from three exposures of different lengths so that scientists can see both bright and dim features in a single composite.
In contrast with natural eclipses that happen once or twice a year for a few minutes, Proba-3 produces an eclipse every 19.6 hours lasting up to six hours—a great step forward in solar observation technology. Mission manager Damien Galano says the spacecraft has already successfully accomplished formation flight with record accuracy. Despite still being in the commissioning phase, the mission already accomplished milestones likely to be of significant scientific significance.
Full autonomous formation flying, without ground monitoring, is the last frontier
the team aims for.
Proba-3's high-resolution solar images set new benchmark
Proba-3 is also transforming the way we simulate the Sun. Its high-resolution images enable scientists to enhance computer simulations of solar eclipses used for research on solar weather.
These observations are way beyond the capabilities of today's coronagraphs," said ESA's Space Weather Modelling Coordinator Jorge Amaya.
The new information is fed into models such as COCONUT, created at KU Leuven, which are part of ESA's Virtual Space Weather Modelling Centre (VSWMC). These provide together the means to predict and prepare for solar impacts on our planet.
About the Proba-3 mission
Proba-3 is an ESA-led mission built by a consortium of more than 29 companies in 14 different countries, led by Sener (Spain) and with prominent roles being undertaken by GMV, Airbus Defence and Space, Redwire Space, and Spacebel.
The mission was launched on 5 December 2024 onboard a PSLV-XL rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India.
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Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
ESA reveals the first stunning images of an artificial solar eclipse created by Proba-3 satellites
The European Space Agency 's Proba-3 mission has achieved a major milestone by capturing its first images of the Sun's faint outer atmosphere, known as the solar corona. This was made possible by two spacecraft flying in precise formation to create the world's first artificial solar eclipse in space . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now One satellite blocked the Sun's bright disk, allowing the second to image the hidden corona in exceptional detail. This innovative approach overcomes the limitations of ground-based observations and natural eclipses. The images offer valuable insights into solar activity, space weather, and the Sun's influence on Earth, marking a new era in solar research. Proba-3 creates first artificial solar eclipse in space Proba-3 is made up of two spacecraft, the Coronagraph and the Occulter, that fly 150 metres separated in perfect synchrony. In March, the mission achieved a first ever in space: the satellites kept their alignment to within a millimetre for several hours without any intervention from ground control. This unprecedented precision is made possible by sophisticated onboard navigation and position systems, enabling the Occulter to project a perfectly aligned shadow onto the instrument of the Coronagraph, ASPIICS. During these formation-flying exercises, the 1.4-meter disk on the Occulter spacecraft eclipses the Sun's brilliant surface so that the Coronagraph's ASPIICS instrument can study the solar corona in detail. The 8 cm wide shadow on ASPIICS is all that results, but it provides a clean, unbroken view of the outer atmosphere of the Sun. Built under the leadership of ESA by a consortium led by Belgium's Centre Spatial de Liège, ASPIICS takes corona pictures without the solar glare due to its 5 cm aperture being carefully shielded. Source: ESA Proba-3's early images offer new insights into solar storms It is necessary to understand the corona in order to study solar wind and coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—great solar particle blasts that can interrupt Earth's communications, navigation systems, and power grids, as evidenced by a powerful geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The first ASPIICS pictures already suggest that the mission may bring new understanding of these lively solar phenomena. Dietmar Pilz, ESA's Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, stressed that several of the technologies used in Proba-3 were created under the umbrella of ESA's General Support Technology Programme. "This is the world's first precision formation flying mission," stated Pilz, "and these marvelous images prove the feasibility of our technological innovation." Source: ESA Why the sun's outer layer is hotter than its surface: Proba-3 looks for answers One of the Sun's biggest secrets is how its corona is millions of degrees hotter than its surface. ASPIICS will investigate this temperature paradox by imaging regions very near the Sun with little stray light, detecting even the slightest structures. Project scientist Joe Zender says by using ASPIICS data along with onboard readings from instruments such as DARA (Digital Absolute Radiometer) and 3DEES (3D Energetic Electron Spectrometer), some of solar science's oldest mysteries will be solved. Proba-3 achieves first eclipse on first attempt, marking a new era in solar observation The first successful eclipse observation for the mission was on the first try. "I was really excited to see the images," stated Andrei Zhukov, ASPIICS Principal Investigator at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. His team at the ASPIICS Science Operations Centre (SOC) is developing the observation time to six hours per orbit. Each integrated image of the corona is built from three exposures of different lengths so that scientists can see both bright and dim features in a single composite. In contrast with natural eclipses that happen once or twice a year for a few minutes, Proba-3 produces an eclipse every 19.6 hours lasting up to six hours—a great step forward in solar observation technology. Mission manager Damien Galano says the spacecraft has already successfully accomplished formation flight with record accuracy. Despite still being in the commissioning phase, the mission already accomplished milestones likely to be of significant scientific significance. Full autonomous formation flying, without ground monitoring, is the last frontier the team aims for. Proba-3's high-resolution solar images set new benchmark Proba-3 is also transforming the way we simulate the Sun. Its high-resolution images enable scientists to enhance computer simulations of solar eclipses used for research on solar weather. These observations are way beyond the capabilities of today's coronagraphs," said ESA's Space Weather Modelling Coordinator Jorge Amaya. The new information is fed into models such as COCONUT, created at KU Leuven, which are part of ESA's Virtual Space Weather Modelling Centre (VSWMC). These provide together the means to predict and prepare for solar impacts on our planet. About the Proba-3 mission Proba-3 is an ESA-led mission built by a consortium of more than 29 companies in 14 different countries, led by Sener (Spain) and with prominent roles being undertaken by GMV, Airbus Defence and Space, Redwire Space, and Spacebel. The mission was launched on 5 December 2024 onboard a PSLV-XL rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Also Read |
NDTV
6 hours ago
- NDTV
European Satellites Create First Artificial Solar Eclipse
Cape Canaveral: A pair of European satellites have created the first artificial solar eclipses by flying in precise and fancy formation, providing hours of on-demand totality for scientists. The European Space Agency released the eclipse pictures at the Paris Air Show on Monday. Launched late last year, the orbiting duo have churned out simulated solar eclipses since March while zooming tens of thousands of miles (kilometers) above Earth. Flying 492 feet (150 meters) apart, one satellite blocks the sun like the moon does during a natural total solar eclipse as the other aims its telescope at the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere that forms a crown or halo of light. It's an intricate, prolonged dance requiring extreme precision by the cube-shaped spacecraft, less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in size. Their flying accuracy needs to be within a mere millimeter, the thickness of a fingernail. This meticulous positioning is achieved autonomously through GPS navigation, star trackers, lasers and radio links. Dubbed Proba-3, the $210 million mission has generated 10 successful solar eclipses so far during the ongoing checkout phase. The longest eclipse lasted five hours, said the Royal Observatory of Belgium's Andrei Zhukov, the lead scientist for the orbiting corona-observing telescope. He and his team are aiming for a wondrous six hours of totality per eclipse once scientific observations begin in July. Scientists already are thrilled by the preliminary results that show the corona without the need for any special image processing, said Zhukov. "We almost couldn't believe our eyes," Zhukov said in an email. "This was the first try, and it worked. It was so incredible." Zhukov anticipates an average of two solar eclipses per week being produced for a total of nearly 200 during the two-year mission, yielding more than 1,000 hours of totality. That will be a scientific bonanza since full solar eclipses produce just a few minutes of totality when the moon lines up perfectly between Earth and the sun - on average just once every 18 months. The sun continues to mystify scientists, especially its corona, which is hotter than the solar surface. Coronal mass ejections result in billions of tons of plasma and magnetic fields being hurled out into space. Geomagnetic storms can result, disrupting power and communication while lighting up the night sky with auroras in unexpected locales. While previous satellites have generated imitation solar eclipses - including the European Space Agency and NASA's Solar Orbiter and Soho observatory - the sun-blocking disk was always on the same spacecraft as the corona-observing telescope. What makes this mission unique, Zhukov said, is that the sun-shrouding disk and telescope are on two different satellites and therefore far apart. The distance between these two satellites will give scientists a better look at the part of the corona closest to the limb of the sun. "We are extremely satisfied by the quality of these images, and again this is really thanks to formation flying" with unprecedented accuracy, ESA's mission manager Damien Galano said from the Paris Air Show.
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First Post
7 hours ago
- First Post
How 2 European satellites created the first artificial solar eclipse
A pair of European satellites, named Occulter and Coronagraph, have created an artificial total solar eclipse in space by flying in a precise formation. This mission, titled Proba-3, will provide scientists with information to better understand the sun and its corona read more This image provided by the European Space Agency shows the Sun's corona captured by the Proba-3 pair of spacecraft, in the visible light spectrum, with the hair-like structures revealed using a specialised image processing algorithm. AP Solar eclipses are rare astronomical marvels. But it seems that won't be the case anymore. Two European satellites created an artificial total solar eclipse in space by flying in precise and fancy formation, providing hours of on-demand totality for scientists. Wait what! The European Space Agency (ESA) released the eclipse pictures at the Paris Air Show on Monday (June 16). All about the 'artificial total solar eclipse' But how was it made possible? Flying 492 feet (150 metres) apart, one satellite blocked the sun like the moon does during a natural total solar eclipse as the other aimed its telescope at the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere that forms a crown or halo of light. In this experiment, one of the satellites, called the Occulter, carried a 1.4-metre-wide carbon fibre and plastic disc, which blocked out the sun's light for the second satellite, the Coronagraph, which was equipped with a camera and scientific instruments. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD According to Associated Press, it was an intricate, prolonged dance requiring extreme precision by the cube-shaped spacecraft, less than five feet (1.5 meters) in size. The flying accuracy needed to be within a mere millimetre, the thickness of a fingernail. This $210 million mission, dubbed Proba 3, has generated 10 successful solar eclipses so far during the ongoing checkout phase. The longest eclipse lasted five hours, said the Royal Observatory of Belgium's Andrei Zhukov, the lead scientist for the orbiting corona-observing telescope. He and his team are aiming for a wondrous six hours of totality per eclipse once scientific observations begin in July. This image provided by the European Space Agency depicts the two spacecraft of the Proba-3 mission aligning to create an eclipse to capture a coronagraph in space. AP Why this is significant For scientists, this is a thrilling result. Zhukov said, 'We almost couldn't believe our eyes. This was the first try, and it worked. It was so incredible.' He added that what makes this experiment even more significant is that in past attempts the sun-blocking disc was always on the same spacecraft as the corona-observing telescope. However, this time the sun-shrouding disk and telescope are on two different satellites and therefore far apart. This will allow scientists a better look at the part of the corona closest to the limb of the sun. Now, Zhukov anticipates an average of two solar eclipses per week being produced for a total of nearly 200 during the two-year mission, yielding more than 1,000 hours of totality. That will be a scientific bonanza since full solar eclipses produce just a few minutes of totality when the moon lines up perfectly between Earth and the sun — on average just once every 18 months. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The sun continues to mystify scientists, especially its corona, which is hotter than the solar surface. Coronal mass ejections result in billions of tonnes of plasma and magnetic fields being hurled out into space. Geomagnetic storms can result, disrupting power and communication while lighting up the night sky with auroras in unexpected locales. Damien Galano at ESA was quoted as telling New Scientist, 'These images will improve our understanding of the sun's corona physics as well as help us to better understand the solar wind and coronal mass ejections, which affect space weather.' With inputs from Associated Press
