- Proba-3 Mission Creates Controlled Eclipses to Study Sun’s Corona.
- Twin Satellites Fly 150 Metres Apart to Replicate Total Solar Eclipses.
- ESA Achieves Millimetre-Level Formation Flying for Solar Observation.
In an incredible feat, two European satellites have pulled off the first-ever artificial solar eclipse by flying in a super-precise formation. This amazing achievement gives scientists hours of uninterrupted time to dive deep into studying the sun’s corona, reports Euro News.
Unveiled at the Paris Air Show
The European Space Agency (ESA) showcased the stunning images at the Paris Air Show on Monday. Since their launch late last year, these satellites have been simulating total solar eclipses from tens of thousands of kilometres above our planet, with successful results kicking off in March.
How It Works: Precision Formation Flying
Flying just 150 meters apart, one satellite acts as a blocker for the sun, mimicking the moon’s role during a natural eclipse, while the other focuses its telescope on the corona, the sun’s brilliant outer atmosphere. These cube-shaped spacecraft, each measuring under 1.5 meters, operate with remarkable precision. Their alignment needs to be spot on within a single millimetre, about the thickness of a fingernail, achieved through a combination of GPS navigation, star trackers, lasers, and radio links.
Mission Profile: Proba-3 and Its Goals
Dubbed Proba-3, the €181 million ($210 million) mission has already produced 10 successful artificial eclipses during its initial testing phase. The longest so far lasted five hours. Scientific operations are scheduled to begin in July, with researchers aiming for six hours of totality per eclipse.
“We almost couldn’t believe our eyes,” said Andrei Zhukov of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, the lead scientist for the mission. “This was the first try, and it worked. It was so incredible.”
A New Era for Solar Science
Zhukov anticipates that the mission will yield about two eclipses each week, leading to nearly 200 eclipses and over 1,000 hours of totality throughout its two-year duration. This marks a significant advancement, considering that natural total eclipses happen roughly every 18 months and only last for a few fleeting minutes.
Unlocking the Mysteries of the Sun
This mission aims to explore the sun’s elusive corona, which is intriguingly hotter than the surface and is responsible for powerful coronal mass ejections. These ejections send billions of tons of plasma hurtling into space, potentially sparking geomagnetic storms that can disrupt communications and power systems here on Earth.
A Technological Breakthrough in Eclipse Simulation
While earlier satellites like ESA and NASA’s Solar Orbiter and Soho observatory also simulated eclipses, they kept the sun-blocking disk and telescope on the same spacecraft. Proba-3 is the first to separate these components across two satellites, providing a clearer view of the inner edge of the corona.
“This is really thanks to formation flying,” said ESA mission manager Damien Galano from the Paris Air Show. “We are extremely satisfied by the quality of these images, and again this is really thanks to formation flying” with unprecedented accuracy. As the mission transitions into its scientific phase, the astronomy community anticipates a wealth of new insights into solar behaviour, made possible by one of the most precise space manoeuvres ever executed.
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Source: Euro News
