The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission is set to revolutionise solar observation by creating an artificial solar eclipse in space.
Using a pair of satellites working in tandem, the mission aims to study the Sun’s corona — a challenging but critical region of the Sun’s outer atmosphere — like never before.
The Proba-3 satellite will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) aboard the Polar Satellite Launch vehicle (PSLV) on December 4.
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HOW PROBA-3 WILL CREATE ARTIFICIAL ECLIPSE
The Proba-3 mission consists of two satellites, the Occulter Satellite (OSC) and the Coronagraph Satellite (CSC).
The OSC carries a 1.4-meter occulting disc designed to block sunlight, creating a shadow approximately eight centimeters wide at a distance of 150 meters. Positioned within this shadow is the CSC, which houses a telescope with a 5-centimeter aperture.
These satellites will maintain a precise formation, with millimetric accuracy, using formation-flying techniques.
This alignment will occur at the apogee of their highly elliptical orbit, approximately 60,000 kilometers from Earth, where gravitational forces are minimal, reducing the propellant required for station-keeping.
WHY DO WE NEED TO OBSERVE SOLAR CORONA?
The solar corona is a critical area for studying solar dynamics and predicting space weather, including solar storms and coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt Earth’s power grids and communication networks.
However, observing the corona is notoriously difficult because the Sun’s brightness, one million times stronger than the corona’s brightest point, blinds telescopes.
Traditional coronagraphs, invented in the 1930s, block sunlight using occulting discs. However, diffraction—the bending of light around obstacles—limits their ability to observe the inner corona. While natural solar eclipses offer ideal conditions for corona observation, they are rare and last only a few minutes.
PROBA-3 COULD FOREVER CHANGE THE WAY WE LOOK AT THE SUN
Proba-3’s design addresses these challenges. Its artificial eclipse will allow continuous observation of the corona for six hours during each 20-hour orbit, offering a hundredfold increase in observation time compared to natural eclipses.
The mission will focus on the gap region between the low and high corona, which has been difficult to study until now.
The mission minimises fuel consumption by alternating between six hours of precision formation flying and passive drifting during the rest of its orbit. Additionally, it will test advanced spaceflight maneuvers, including acquisition, rendezvous, and convoy flying.
Proba-3 represents a significant leap forward in solar research, promising unprecedented insights into the Sun’s dynamics and its impact on space weather.
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