Latest news with #ASPIICS
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Science
- 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 |
India Today
4 hours ago
- Science
- India Today
Europe's Proba-3, which launched from India, creates 1st artificial solar eclipse
European Space Agency's Proba-3 spacecraft, which was launched from India's Sriharikota, has created the first artificial solar eclipse in Proba-3 satellites flew in perfect formation, blocking the Sun's bright disc to reveal its fiery corona. This enigmatic outer layer burns millions of degrees hotter than the Sun's surface and drives the solar storms that can disrupt life on corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere. It's like a glowing crown (corona means "crown" in Latin) made of super-hot gases that shoot far into space. The Sun's inner corona appears greenish in this image taken on 23 May 2025 by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3. (Photo: ESA) Even though it's millions of kilometres from the Sun's surface, it can reach temperatures over a million degrees Celsius — much hotter than the Sun's surface. The corona is usually invisible to our eyes because the Sun's brightness drowns it during a total solar eclipse, the sky goes dark in the middle of the day, and the Sun's corona becomes visible like a glowing, white halo around the blacked-out Sun — it's one of the most beautiful sights in nature. This image is a combination of observations made on 23 May 2025 by three different European instruments aboard different missions. (Photo: ESA) advertisementSince a total solar eclipse is not a regular phenomenon, scientists wanted to study the corona at a regular interval. That's why they conceptualised the Proba-3 mission, which consisted of two spacecraft that fly in formation, simulating the total solar eclipse."Demonstrating the degree of precision achieved, the two spacecraft use their formation flying time to create artificial total solar eclipses in orbit – they align with the Sun so that the 1.4 m large disc carried by the Occulter spacecraft covers the bright disc of the Sun for the Coronagraph spacecraft, casting a shadow of 8 cm across onto its optical instrument, ASPIICS," the European Space Agency said. Observing the corona is crucial for revealing solar wind, the continuous flow of matter from the Sun into outer space. It is also necessary for understanding the workings of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), explosions of particles sent out by the Sun almost every day, especially during high activity Watch
Indianapolis Star
6 hours ago
- Science
- Indianapolis Star
European satellites achieve an artificial eclipse in space to study the sun's corona
Two European satellites created an "artificial total solar eclipse" in space, the European Space Agency announced June 16, delivering data that will improve scientists' understanding of the sun and its atmosphere. The agency said the satellites, named Coronagraph and Occulter, flew 429 feet apart in perfect formation for "several hours" without being controlled from the ground to create the artificial eclipse. The Proba-3 mission, according to the agency, helps scientists examine the sun's corona to study solar winds, the continuous flow of matter from the sun into outer space, and the workings of coronal mass ejections. "It is exciting to see these stunning images validate our technologies in what is now the world's first precision formation flying mission," Dietmar Pilz, European Space Agency's director of technology, engineering, and quality, said in a news release. The mission has created 10 artificial eclipses so far, with the longest being five hours, lead scientist Andrei Zhukov told The Associated Press. "We almost couldn't believe our eyes," Zhukov, who works for the Royal Observatory of Belgium, told the news organization service. "This was the first try, and it worked. It was so incredible." During the eclipses, the ASPIICS optical instrument on the Coronagraph captured images of the solar corona while the Occulter blocked out the sun's light. The images were processed by the ASPIICS Science Operations Center at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, where a team of scientists created photos of the corona based on input from the scientific community. "Current coronagraphs are no match for Proba-3, which will observe the sun's corona down almost to the edge of the solar surface. So far, this was only possible during natural solar eclipses," said Jorge Amaya, space weather modelling coordinator at the European Space Agency. The agency added that the Proba-3 mission's images will help computer modeling of the sun's corona.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Trailblazing Satellite Mission Delivers Its First Artificial Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse is a marvel. This quirk of the complex interplay between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun doesn't just remind us of the wonders of the cosmos – it gives us a window into the Sun we rarely get to see. More specifically, with the Moon blotting out the main disk of the Sun, we can see details and features in the solar atmosphere, or corona, that are usually obscured from view. Now, a new satellite observatory has given us a way to watch an eclipse every single day. It's the European Space Agency's Proba-3, and it's a marvelous feat of engineering. It consists of two separate spacecraft, the Coronagraph and the Occulter, that fly in precise formation separated by a distance of 150 meters (492 feet) – about 1.4 football fields. In this configuration, the Occulter orients itself to block the disk of the Sun, while the Coronagraph snaps observations of the corona in different wavelengths using its ASPIICS instrument, which stands for Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun. After performing this magnificent feat for several hours without any input from ground control, the mission has now delivered its first artificial eclipse observations. "Each full image – covering the area from the occulted Sun all the way to the edge of the field of view – is actually constructed from three images. The difference between those is only the exposure time, which determines how long the coronagraph's aperture is exposed to light. Combining the three images gives us the full view of the corona," explains ASPIICS principal investigator Andrei Zhukov of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. "Our 'artificial eclipse' images are comparable with those taken during a natural eclipse. The difference is that we can create our eclipse once every 19.6-hour orbit, while total solar eclipses only occur naturally around once, very rarely twice a year. On top of that, natural total eclipses only last a few minutes, while Proba-3 can hold its artificial eclipse for up to six hours." The resulting images show different properties of the hot solar corona. An image colored dark green shows ionized iron that has lost electrons due to the high temperatures. This reveals the hottest parts of the corona, and the image captured a loop structure associated with a solar flare. An image colored yellow shows helium, and managed to snap a solar prominence, a large loop of plasma arcing out of the surface of the Sun. A third image, colored violet, shows helmet streamers in white light. Another image in lighter green shows what the Sun might look like from Earth during a solar eclipse. For another image, three spacecraft team up with simultaneous observations. Proba-2 captures the Sun itself in extreme ultraviolet light, while Proba-3 captures the corona and ESA solar observatory SOHO focuses on the outer atmosphere. The observatory has not yet commenced its true science observations. It's in the commissioning phase, in which its systems undergo extensive testing to make sure they're working as intended; although observations taken during this stage can be used for research and analysis. So this is just the beginning of Proba-3's journey, and a bold new realm of formation spacecraft. With a solar eclipse observable every 20 hours, we expect we're about to learn a lot more about our wild, beautiful Sun. NASA Teams Up With India to Launch First-of-Its-Kind $1.5 Billion Satellite Volcano Found Hiding 'In Plain Sight' Right Next to NASA Mars Rover NASA Satellite Glimpses Giant Volcano Peeking Above The Clouds of Mars
Yomiuri Shimbun
13 hours ago
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
A Look at the First Artificial Solar Eclipses Created by Two European Satellites
ESA/Proba-3/ASPIICS/WOW algorithm via AP This image provided by the European Space Agency shows the Sun's corona captured by the Proba-3 pair of spacecraft on May 23, 2025, in the visible light spectrum, with the hair-like structures revealed using a specialized image processing algorithm. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — 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.
