The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched a groundbreaking mission with two satellites designed to simulate solar eclipses in space. The pair of satellites, launched from India on Thursday, will work in close formation to create artificial eclipses, a first for space missions.
Pioneering Solar Studies with Extended Eclipse Phases
This innovative mission, known as Proba-3, will offer scientists an unprecedented six hours of artificial solar eclipse each time the satellites align, significantly longer than the brief totality seen during natural eclipses on Earth. The extended eclipse will allow for detailed observations of the Sun’s corona, helping researchers understand its temperature and study solar phenomena like coronal mass ejections. This mission is expected to provide valuable insights into space weather, which impacts communication and power systems on Earth.
