This is the image of the duo-satellite Proba-3 making solar eclipses, just released by the European Space Agency, ESA.
A solar eclipse on demand in space. We see the corona. The sun itself was hidden behind one satellite and thus not visible. The instrument ASPIICS on the other satellite took the image. ASPIICS stands for Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Corona of the Sun. Click on the image for the full resolution.
The image was taken by the instrument ASPIICS on Proba-3. The raw image, once transmitted to Earth, was processed by scientists at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. It is this image that ESA now released.
Andrei Zhukov, the principal investigator of ASPIICS: 'To make this image, we used all our scientific knowledge about how the instrument works. To do this, we have to learn to know the entire instrument with parts spread across the two satellites, inside and out, from lens aperture, internal systems, to every pixel of the image sensor. We had to understand how each of those parts reacted.'
Many meetings, tests and discussions preceded it. But the result is worth it.
Andrei Zhukov: 'Then again, we are talking about two satellites. We had to pool all our knowledge. What we see here is the result of scientific teamwork. I am very proud of this world first.'
The idea of making solar eclipses in space by flying two satellites in formation dates back to 2003. Andrei became principal investigator of ASPIICS in 2013. This image is a fantastic reward and heralds the beginning of a scientific voyage of discovery into the solar atmosphere, the birthplace of space weather.
