In Photos: First Ever ‘Fake' Total Solar Eclipse Created In Space
The Sun's inner corona appears greenish in this image taken on 23 May 2025 by the ASPIICS ... More coronagraph aboard Proba-3, ESA's formation-flying mission capable of creating artificial total solar eclipses in orbit. This image, captured in the visible light spectrum, shows the solar corona similarly to how a human eye would see it during an eclipse through a green filter. The hair-like structures were revealed using a specialised image processing algorithm.
The European Space Agency has published the first spectacular images of an artificial solar eclipse created in orbit. The pioneering images are from its Proba-3 mission, which features two satellites that fly in formation with millimeter precision, allowing scientists to study the sun's corona without waiting for rare natural eclipses. It's also the world's first precision formation flying mission.
Launched on December 5, 2024, from India, Proba-3 is a two-year mission during which a total solar eclipse will be created for six hours in every 19.6-hour orbit. 'Our 'artificial eclipse' images are comparable with those taken during a natural eclipse," said Andrei Zhukov, Principal Investigator for ASPIICS at the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
The Sun's inner corona, coloured artificially to appear violet, in an image taken on 23 May 2025 by ... More the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3, ESA's formation-flying mission capable of creating artificial total solar eclipses in orbit. This image shows the corona in polarised white light, captured using a special technique which allows scientists to separate the hot corona's polarized light from the light scattered by interplanetary dust.
'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 6 hours.'
One satellite, the Occulter, acts as an artificial moon, blocking the sun's light using a 1.4-meter-diameter disc. It flies exactly 150 meters in front of the Coronagraph satellite, covering the bright disc of the sun and casting an 8 cm shadow across onto its imager — mimicking how a total solar eclipse works on Earth.
The Sun's inner corona, coloured artificially to appear dark green, in an image taken on 23 May 2025 ... More by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3, ESA's formation-flying mission capable of creating artificial total solar eclipses in orbit. The ASPIICS instrument captures the solar corona in two different 'spectral lines', each line corresponding to a different element contained in the coronal gases. This image shows observations in the coronal green line – a spectral line emitted by iron atoms that lost half of their electrons due to extremely high temperatures. This allows us to see the hottest contents of the corona, at up to 2 million degrees. On the upper left side, a hot loop can be seen extending from the Sun's surface into the corona, a structure which generally appears following a solar flare.
Such a feat of engineering is essential to capture images of the sun's corona — the outer atmosphere of the sun. Only during a total solar eclipse can the corona be glimpsed from Earth's surface, and even then, only for a few minutes from any one location.
The solar corona is a mysterious place. It reaches temperatures of over two million degrees Fahrenheit, significantly hotter than the sun's surface. Understanding this mysterious layer is essential for solar physicists because it's the origin of solar wind and space weather that can impact Earth's communications and power systems.
The two spacecraft of Proba-3 fly in precise formation about 150 m apart to form an external ... More coronagraph in space, one spacecraft eclipsing the Sun to allow the second to study the otherwise invisible solar corona.
The mission is based on some remarkable engineering. The Proba-3 satellites follow a highly elliptical 19.6-hour orbit ranging from 373 miles (600 km) at perigee to 37,000 miles (60,000 km) at apogee, flying in precision formation only near apogee. At apogee, they're as far away from Earth's gravitational force and atmospheric drag, enabling them to fly in formation autonomously, achieving eclipse-like conditions for six hours.
The images you see here are created from three exposures and were processed by the ASPIICS Science Operations Centre at Belgium's Royal Observatory. '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," said Zhukov. '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.'
The paired Proba-3 satellites will have a highly elliptical orbit with an apogee (or top of orbit) ... More of around 60 000 km and perigee of 600 km. Coronagraph observation based on forming an artificial eclipse between the two satellites as well as active formation flying experiments taking place towards apogee, with passive formation flying taking place as the satellites circle closer to Earth.
ESA has an open data policy, with all uncalibrated data and images available online to scientists and eclipse enthusiasts alike. Proba-3's mission will last two years, during which approximately 1,000 hours of solar corona images will be gathered. Once it runs out of propellant, it will de-orbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Asteroid 2024 YR4 might smash into the moon
Earlier this year, astronomers alerted the world to a startling possibility: based on initial calculations, it appeared that a recently discovered asteroid known as 2024 YR4 had a not-zero chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. At 174–220 feet wide, the space rock has the potential to destroy a sizable city in less than a decade's time. In this case, however, 'not-zero' never amounted to anything higher than a three percent probability. And after gathering additional information from an array of terrestrial observatories as well as the James Webb Space Telescope, experts concluded in March that 2024 YR4 didn't pose any direct threat to the planet. But just because Earth was spared doesn't mean our moon is safe. Based on the most recent calculations, the chance that the asteroid has a 2032 date with the lunar surface is higher than it ever was for us. 'The probability that asteroid 2024 YR4 will strike the Moon on 22 December 2032 is now approximately 4 percent, and this probability was still slowly rising as the asteroid faded out of view,' the European Space Agency said in its most recent update. Okay, so it's not that much more likely than 2024 YR4's highest probability for Earth. But a 96-percent likelihood of missing the moon leaves room for the space rock to defy the odds. Astronomers will now need to wait until its orbit sends it around the sun in mid-2028 to begin conducting further observations. So what happens if 2024 YR4 really does collide with the moon? That's a great question—one that even the experts can't answer at the moment. 'No one knows what the exact effects would be,' admitted ESA Planetary Defense Office director Richard Moissl. 'It is a very rare event for an asteroid this large to impact the Moon—and it is rarer still that we know about it in advance.' Moissl added the collision 'would certainly leave a new crater on the surface,' but it's not currently possible to accurately predict how much material would eject into space, and whether Earth's gravitational pull would catch any of it. That said, there isn't a major worry that an asteroid of 2024 YR's size would result in lunar armageddon. Moissl also explained that while the impact would likely be visible from Earth, astronomers remain 'excited by the prospect of observing and analyzing it.' If you're still uneasy about errant asteroids hurtling towards us, take comfort in knowing that international space agencies are working to improve our early detection capabilities and plan for worst-case scenarios. The ESA, for example, is currently planning to launch its Near-Earth Object Mission in the Infrared (NEOMIR) satellite in the early 2030s. NEOMIR is designed to position itself at the first Sun-Earth Lagrange Point, one of five locations where the planet's gravitational forces and the satellite's orbit interact to allow for a stable observation point. Once there, the array will be able to scan for unknown asteroids larger than 197-feet-wide that are potentially en route to Earth. This will provide governments and agencies much more time to identify, analyze, and plan for space emergencies. 'NEOMIR would have detected asteroid 2024 YR4 about a month earlier than ground-based telescopes did,' Moissl explained. 'This would have given astronomers more time to study the asteroid's trajectory and allowed them to much sooner rule out any chance of Earth impact in 2032.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
What is déjà vu? Psychologists are exploring this creepy feeling of having already lived through an experience before
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@ Why do people experience déjà vu? – Atharva P., age 10, Bengaluru, India Have you ever had that weird feeling that you've experienced the same exact situation before, even though that's impossible? Sometimes it can even seem like you're reliving something that already happened. This phenomenon, known as déjà vu, has puzzled philosophers, neurologists and writers for a very long time. Starting in the late 1800s, many theories began to emerge regarding what might cause déjà vu, which means 'already seen' in French. People thought maybe it stemmed from mental dysfunction or perhaps a type of brain problem. Or maybe it was a temporary hiccup in the otherwise normal operation of human memory. But the topic did not reach the realm of science until quite recently. Early in this millennium, a scientist named Alan Brown decided to conduct a review of everything researchers had written about déjà vu until that point. Much of what he could find had a paranormal flavor, having to do with the supernatural – things like past lives or psychic abilities. But he also found studies that surveyed regular people about their déjà vu experiences. From all these papers, Brown was able to glean some basic findings on the déjà vu phenomenon. For example, Brown determined that roughly two thirds of people experience déjà vu at some point in their lives. He determined that the most common trigger of déjà vu is a scene or place, and the next most common trigger is a conversation. He also reported on hints throughout a century or so of medical literature of a possible association between déjà vu and some types of seizure activity in the brain. Brown's review brought the topic of déjà vu into the realm of more mainstream science, because it appeared in both a scientific journal that scientists who study cognition tend to read, and also in a book aimed at scientists. His work served as a catalyst for scientists to design experiments to investigate déjà vu. Prompted by Brown's work, my own research team began conducting experiments aimed at testing hypotheses about possible mechanisms of déjà vu. We investigated a near century-old hypothesis that suggested déjà vu can happen when there's a spatial resemblance between a current scene and an unrecalled scene in your memory. Psychologists called this the Gestalt familiarity hypothesis. For example, imagine you're passing the nursing station in a hospital unit on your way to visit a sick friend. Although you've never been to this hospital before, you are struck with a feeling that you have. The underlying cause for this experience of déjà vu could be that the layout of the scene, including the placement of the furniture and the particular objects within the space, have the same layout as a different scene that you did experience in the past. Maybe the way the nursing station is situated – the furniture, the items on the counter, the way it connects to the corners of the hallway – is the same as how a set of welcome tables was arranged relative to signs and furniture in a hallway at the entrance to a school event you attended a year earlier. According to the Gestalt familiarity hypothesis, if that previous situation with a similar layout to the current one doesn't come to mind, you might be left only with a strong feeling of familiarity for the current one. To investigate this idea in the laboratory, my team used virtual reality to place people within scenes. That way we could manipulate the environments people found themselves in – some scenes shared the same spatial layout while otherwise being distinct. As predicted, déjà vu was more likely to happen when people were in a scene that contained the same spatial arrangement of elements as an earlier scene they viewed but didn't recall. This research suggests that one contributing factor to déjà vu can be spatial resemblance of a new scene to one in memory that fails to be consciously called to mind at the moment. However, it does not mean that spatial resemblance is the only cause of déjà vu. Very likely, many factors can contribute to what makes a scene or a situation feel familiar. More research is underway to investigate additional possible factors at play in this mysterious phenomenon. Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you'd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@ Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you're wondering, too. We won't be able to answer every question, but we will do our best. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Anne Cleary, Colorado State University Read more: Where are memories stored in the brain? New research suggests they may be in the connections between your brain cells Vagaries of memory mean eyewitness testimony isn't perfect Why can't you remember being born, learning to walk or saying your first words? What scientists know about 'infantile amnesia' Anne Cleary is a member of the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Rare Jupiter-sized planet discovered 3,200 light-years away using Einstein's space-time warping method
Astronomers used a method once theorized by Albert Einstein to find a mysterious and rare planet on the edge of our galaxy. The planet, AT2021uey b, is a Jupiter-sized gas giant located about 3,200 light-years from Earth in the galactic bulge. It takes AT2021uey b 4,170 days to orbit its dwarf star, according to a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Advertisement According to Live Scence, AT2021uey b's shadow was first spotted in 2021 in data taken by the European Space Agency's Gaia telescope. It took the astronomers multiple check-ins to confirm the details of the planet. The astronomers discovered the planet using microlensing, a method used only three times previously, according to the study. Microlensing, which is based on Einstein's theory of relativity, relies on massive objects moving through the galaxy to warp the fabric of the universe, called space-time. Advertisement 3 An artist's illustration of the Gaia space telescope, which first spotted the microlensing event in 2021. ESA/ATG medialab / SWNS Dr. Marius Maskoliunas, astronomer at Vilnius University and co-author of the study, discussed in a statement posted in just how much work goes into using this method. 'This kind of work requires a lot of expertise, patience and, frankly, a bit of luck. You have to wait for a long time for the source star and the lensing object to align and then check an enormous amount of data,' Maskoliunas said in the statement. 'Ninety percent of observed stars pulsate for various other reasons, and only a minority of cases show the microlensing effect.' 3 A visualization of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. NASA/ESA et al. / SWNS Advertisement According to the study, microlensing occurs when a massive celestial body briefly positions itself directly in front of an even more distant star. As the planet settles in front of the star during its journey, the light begins to curve around the planet, magnifying the light of the star. According to the study, this temporary magnified light is what astronomers are searching for. Maskoliunas gave an example of how to imagine how microlensing works. 3 An illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft in orbit above Jupiter. NASA/JPL-Caltech / SWNS Advertisement 'What fascinates me about this method is that it can detect those invisible bodies. Imagine a bird flying past you. You don't see the bird itself and don't know what color it is — only its shadow,' Maskoliunas said in the statement. 'But from it, you can, with some level of probability, determine whether it was a sparrow or a swan and at what distance from us. It's an incredibly intriguing process.' According to Live Science, there have been nearly 6,000 planets discovered since 1992 using two other more common practices known as transmit photometry and radial velocity. These more common practices will detect planets through host stars becoming dimmer due to said planets. They will also detect the wobble of the planets' gravitational pulls that occur.
