First artificial solar eclipse from space captured by ESA Proba-3 mission
A satellite duo orbiting our planet has just captured the very first images of an artificial solar eclipse from space, providing us with a spectacular view of the Sun's corona — a view only rarely available to us here on Earth.
Total solar eclipses are amazing to behold. They spark awe and wonder in those fortunate enough to witness the event. Also, the brief moments of totality give us a chance to see and study parts of the Sun that are nearly impossible to observe at any other time.
The April 8 total solar eclipse, imaged from Dallas, Texas, during 'totality', when the Moon completely blocked the Sun. While a few red-tinged prominances are visible along the edge of the Moon, the primary feature we see is the solar corona, which is shaped and sculpted by the Sun's powerful magnetic fields. (NASA/Keegan Barber)
The solar corona is the Sun's atmosphere. It is the source of the solar wind, which constantly flows past our planet and causes auroras to shine near the north and south poles. It also holds one of the biggest mysteries of our solar system, as it reaches temperatures of about 1 million degrees Celsius, while the surface of the Sun (the photosphere) is only around 5,500°C.
There have been clues over the years, but overall, scientists are still trying to find out exactly why the corona is so much hotter than the photosphere.
The main reason for this is that studying the corona is challenging. We can see it during a total solar eclipse, but those are few and far in-between. And even when one does occur, the time they have to observe it — right at totality — only lasts for a few minutes each time. Jets have been able to extend this time a bit, as they fly straight down the path of totality, but the shadow of the Moon moves too quickly to get a sustained look.
Special cameras known as coronagraphs give us longer observations of the corona. Two flying in space right now, one on the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the other on the GOES-19 weather satellite, have a small disk at the end of an arm positioned in front of the camera lens to cover the Sun.
Two composite views of the Sun from SOHO and the Solar Dynamics Observatory show the outer parts of the solar corona. As the innermost part of each image reveals, there is a lot of space between the inner edge of SOHO's coronagraph view and the surface of the Sun, which means we do not get a consistent look at the inner corona. (NASA SDO/NASA-ESA SOHO/Scott Sutherland)
With that disk in place, the sensitive camera can then pick up the much fainter activity going on around the Sun. However, when scientists fly one of these instruments, they have to account for the entire range of distance the satellite will be from the Sun, thus the disk has to give a lot of leeway, to prevent the Sun from peaking around the edge of the coronagraph and burning out the optics. Thus, these coronagraphs can never give us as good a view of the corona as we see during a total solar eclipse, where we can even view the very lowest layers of the Sun's atmosphere.
The European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission solves that problem, though. The two satellites that are part of the mission — the Coronagraph and the Occulter — fly in precise formation, orbiting around the Earth. Each time they come around on the Sun-ward side of the planet, they line up perfectly, at just the right distance, that the Occulter perfectly covers up the Sun's disk, just like the Moon does during a total solar eclipse.
Proba-3's Coronagraph and Occulter fly in tandom as they loop around the sunward side of Earth, with the Occulter at the precise distance to block the Sun's disk for the camera. (ESA)
Now, Proba-3 has sent back its very first artificial solar eclipse images, and the results are pretty amazing.
"Seeing the first data from ASPIICS is incredibly exciting," Joe Zender, Proba-3 project scientist, said in an ESA press release. "Together with the measurements made by another instrument on board, DARA, ASPIICS will contribute to unravelling long-lasting questions about our home star."
The Sun's inner corona is revealed in this image taken by Proba-3's ASPIICS coronagraph, on May 23, 2025. The image shows the corona similar to how the human eye would see it during an eclipse, but through a green filter. The details of the image were enhanced by a specialized image processing algorithm. (ESA)
"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 Andrei Zhukov, the principal investigator for ASPIICS at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. "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."
"Our 'artificial eclipse' images are comparable with those taken during a natural eclipse," Zhukov explained. "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.'
This artist's impression shows the Proba-3 Occulter blocking the Sun's disk so that the Coronagraph can image the space around the Sun. (ESA)
At the moment, Proba-3 is still receiving guidance from ESA operators on the ground, so that the two spacecraft continue to fly in perfect formation. However, the mission team's goal is to get the two doing this precision flying all on their own. Once that happens, they can leave the pair to send back new observations after each orbit.
The data returned by the mission will not only help researchers solve the mysteries of the corona's extreme temperatures, but it will also help space weather scientists, as well. The images returned by Proba-3 can act as an important tool to verify their computer models of the corona, which are used to forecast the impacts of solar activity here on Earth.
Thus, as Proba-3 continues to send back data, this could improve our ability to forecast auroras or even the potential disruptions to satellites and power grids that can result from extreme space weather.
Click here to view the video
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How can the James Webb Space Telescope see so far?
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@ How does the camera on the James Webb Space Telescope work and see so far out? – Kieran G., age 12, Minnesota Imagine a camera so powerful it can see light from galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years ago. That's exactly what NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is built to do. Since it launched in December 2021, Webb has been orbiting more than a million miles from Earth, capturing breathtaking images of deep space. But how does it actually work? And how can it see so far? The secret lies in its powerful cameras – especially ones that don't see light the way our eyes do. I'm an astrophysicist who studies galaxies and supermassive black holes, and the Webb telescope is an incredible tool for observing some of the earliest galaxies and black holes in the universe. When Webb takes a picture of a distant galaxy, astronomers like me are actually seeing what that galaxy looked like billions of years ago. The light from that galaxy has been traveling across space for the billions of years it takes to reach the telescope's mirror. It's like having a time machine that takes snapshots of the early universe. By using a giant mirror to collect ancient light, Webb has been discovering new secrets about the universe. Unlike regular cameras or even the Hubble Space Telescope, which take images of visible light, Webb is designed to see a kind of light that's invisible to your eyes: infrared light. Infrared light has longer wavelengths than visible light, which is why our eyes can't detect it. But with the right instruments, Webb can capture infrared light to study some of the earliest and most distant objects in the universe. Although the human eye cannot see it, people can detect infrared light as a form of heat using specialized technology, such as infrared cameras or thermal sensors. For example, night-vision goggles use infrared light to detect warm objects in the dark. Webb uses the same idea to study stars, galaxies and planets. Why infrared? When visible light from faraway galaxies travels across the universe, it stretches out. This is because the universe is expanding. That stretching turns visible light into infrared light. So, the most distant galaxies in space don't shine in visible light anymore – they glow in faint infrared. That's the light Webb is built to detect. Before the light reaches the cameras, it first has to be collected by the Webb telescope's enormous golden mirror. This mirror is over 21 feet (6.5 meters) wide and made of 18 smaller mirror pieces that fit together like a honeycomb. It's coated in a thin layer of real gold – not just to look fancy, but because gold reflects infrared light extremely well. The mirror gathers light from deep space and reflects it into the telescope's instruments. The bigger the mirror, the more light it can collect – and the farther it can see. Webb's mirror is the largest ever launched into space. The most important 'eyes' of the telescope are two science instruments that act like cameras: NIRCam and MIRI. NIRCam stands for near-infrared camera. It's the primary camera on Webb and takes stunning images of galaxies and stars. It also has a coronagraph – a device that blocks out starlight so it can photograph very faint objects near bright sources, such as planets orbiting bright stars. NIRCam works by imaging near-infrared light, the type closest to what human eyes can almost see, and splitting it into different wavelengths. This helps scientists learn not just what something looks like but what it's made of. Different materials in space absorb and emit infrared light at specific wavelengths, creating a kind of unique chemical fingerprint. By studying these fingerprints, scientists can uncover the properties of distant stars and galaxies. MIRI, or the mid-infrared instrument, detects longer infrared wavelengths, which are especially useful for spotting cooler and dustier objects, such as stars that are still forming inside clouds of gas. MIRI can even help find clues about the types of molecules in the atmospheres of planets that might support life. Both cameras are far more sensitive than the standard cameras used on Earth. NIRCam and MIRI can detect the tiniest amounts of heat from billions of light-years away. If you had Webb's NIRCam as your eyes, you could see the heat from a bumblebee on the Moon. That's how sensitive it is. Because Webb is trying to detect faint heat from faraway objects, it needs to keep itself as cold as possible. That's why it carries a giant sun shield about the size of a tennis court. This five-layer sun shield blocks heat from the Sun, Earth and even the Moon, helping Webb stay incredibly cold: around -370 degrees F (-223 degrees C). MIRI needs to be even colder. It has its own special refrigerator, called a cryocooler, to keep it chilled to nearly -447 degrees F (-266 degrees C). If Webb were even a little warm, its own heat would drown out the distant signals it's trying to detect. Once light reaches the Webb telescope's cameras, it hits sensors called detectors. These detectors don't capture regular photos like a phone camera. Instead, they convert the incoming infrared light into digital data. That data is then sent back to Earth, where scientists process it into full-color images. The colors we see in Webb's pictures aren't what the camera 'sees' directly. Because infrared light is invisible, scientists assign colors to different wavelengths to help us understand what's in the image. These processed images help show the structure, age and composition of galaxies, stars and more. By using a giant mirror to collect invisible infrared light and sending it to super-cold cameras, Webb lets us see galaxies that formed just after the universe began. 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: Adi Foord, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Read more: Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains How the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a surprisingly bright, complex and element-filled early universe – podcast James Webb Space Telescope: An astronomer explains the stunning, newly released first images Adi Foord does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Google strikes deal to buy fusion power from MIT spinoff Commonwealth
By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Alphabet's Google said on Monday it has struck a deal to buy power from a project in Virginia fueled by fusion, the reaction that powers the sun and the stars but is not yet commercial on Earth. Google signed what it called the technology's first direct corporate power purchase agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a company that spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018. The deal is for 200 megawatts of power, about enough to power a small city, from CFS's ARC project that is being developed in Virginia, home to the world's biggest hub of energy-hungry data centers. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Physicists at national laboratories and companies have been trying for decades to use lasers or, in the case of CFS, large magnets to foster fusion reactions, in which light atoms are forced together to release large amounts of energy. In 2022, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California briefly achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers. But achieving so-called "engineering break-even," in which more energy comes out of a reaction than the overall energy that goes into a fusion plant to get a reaction going, has been elusive. And for a plant to generate power from fusion, the reactions must be constant, not rare. "Yes, there are some serious physics and engineering challenges that we still have to work through to make it commercially viable and scalable," Michael Terrell, Google's head of advanced energy, told reporters in a call. "But that's something that we want to be investing in now to realize that future." As artificial intelligence and data centers boost power demand around the world, interest in fusion is spiking. Fusion, unlike nuclear fission, in which atoms are split, does not generate large amounts of radioactive waste. In addition, fusion, if successful, could help fight climate change. CFS aims to generate power from the 400 MW project known as ARC in the early 2030s but must first clear the scientific hurdles. "Without partnership and without being bold and setting a goal and going for it, you won't ever reach over those challenges," Bob Mumgaard, CFS's CEO and co-founder, told reporters. He said the ARC plant will teach CFS about the "teething phase" of fusion, in which he expects to learn about how often fusion machines break down and how they can run reliably. Google also said on Monday it was increasing its investment in CFS, but did not disclose the amount. Google was one of many investors that invested a total of $1.8 billion into CFS in 2021. Mumgaard said Google's investment on Monday was "comparable" to its 2021 one. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Researchers issue urgent warning after nightmare creatures breed to form dangerous hybrid species: 'Effective camouflage and secretive behavior'
Two invasive species of python in Florida have interbred to create a terrifying new hybrid snake that is even better adapted to the Everglades environment, a U.S. Geological Survey study found. First introduced to Florida via the commercial pet trade, Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, have been breeding in the Florida wild since the 1980s, the study said. Unfortunately, the giant constrictors have adapted remarkably well to the environment in South Florida, expanding rapidly in terms of population and geography since their introduction, per the USGS. The snakes' natural stealthiness, paired with the inaccessibility of the Everglades environment to humans, has made tracking and studying the snakes a challenge for researchers. "Our ability to detect Burmese pythons in the Greater Everglades has been limited by their effective camouflage and secretive behavior," said Kristen Hart, a study co-author, per the USGS. "By using genetic tools and techniques and continuing to monitor their movement patterns, we have been able to get a better understanding of their habitat preferences and resource use." These genetic tools revealed that the Burmese pythons were closely related, indicating they likely descended from relatively few ancestors that had either escaped or were released into the wild, the study found. The genetic testing also yielded another, unexpected result. "The snakes in South Florida are physically identifiable as Burmese pythons, but genetically, there seems to be a different, more complicated story," said Margaret Hunter, the study's lead author, per the USGS. Genetically, the giant constrictors were hybrids of Burmese pythons and Indian pythons. The new hybrid snakes appeared even better acclimated to existence in the Florida Everglades, something Hunter attributed to "hybrid vigor." Genetic mixing between closely related species "can lead to … the best traits of two species are passed into their offspring," the geneticist explained. "Hybrid vigor can potentially lead to a better ability to adapt to environmental stressors and changes. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. "In an invasive species population like the Burmese pythons in South Florida, this could result in a broader and more rapid distribution." The introduction of invasive pythons into the South Florida ecosystem has devastated the populations of small mammals on which the snakes prey. From 1997 to 2012, the USGS measured population declines of 99.3% for raccoons, 98.9% for opossums, and 87.5% for bobcats. "The most severe decline in native species [have] occurred in the remote southernmost regions of the [Everglades National] Park where pythons have been established the longest," the USGS said. As the example of pythons in South Florida has illustrated, once an invasive species is introduced into a new environment, the consequences are highly unpredictable but often devastating. Around the world, invasive species are the No. 2 reason why native species go extinct, behind only habitat loss, according to New Scientist. Invasive species outcompete native plants and animals, spread deadly diseases, and disrupt delicate ecosystems. They also impact the food supply by decimating livestock and crops while also shutting down trade. Rising global temperatures have increased the spread of invasive species, opening up new regions where certain species could not previously survive, per the USGS. Consequently, in order to curb the spread of invasive species on a global scale, we need to reduce the amount of heat-trapping pollution that enters the atmosphere. You can reduce the pollution you and your family generate by driving an electric vehicle, installing solar panels, or taking public transit. Additionally, you can give direct assistance to native species in your area by planting a native garden, upgrading to a natural lawn, or rewilding your yard, all of which provide additional shelter and food for local wildlife. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
