Later this year, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Proba-3 mission into orbit around Earth. This unique project’s twin spacecraft will align with each other to create frequent, artificial eclipses in space, which will give researchers near-unlimited access to studying the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, for the first time.
An upcoming terrestrial solar eclipse on April 8, where the moon temporarily blocks out the sun, will also play a key role in preparing the spacecraft duo for their future work, mission scientists say.
The Proba-3 mission involves a pair of probes known as Coronagraph and Occulter. When in orbit, Occulter will be able to position itself between Coronagraph and the sun so that it perfectly blocks out just enough sunlight to simulate terrestrial eclipses. In doing so, Coronagraph’s camera will be able to focus on the corona, which appears as a swirling sea of wispy plasma lines when it is viewed in isolation from the rest of the sun.
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