Given the knowledge of the Sun’s corona and its life-endangering behavior, scientists came up with a surprising plan to go further. The double satellites from Proba-3 planned to be launched in 2022, will act as a blocker to the solar disk.
Six hours at a time during each 20 hours orbit, the two satellites will cast a shadow across space, and Proba-3 will use the rest of its instruments to collect data. The satellites will stand between Earth and the Sun making the corona visible for Proba-3, just like in a total eclipse of the Sun. It won’t be visible down on Earth, just for Proba-3 to reveal interactions between the Sun and its surroundings.
The corona is the Sun’s biggest mystery. It is way hotter the Sun itself. While the star has a temperature of 6000 degrees Celsius, the Corona rises to a million degrees or more. Not just because it is a mystery makes the corona such an attraction, but because of the way it influences space weather, and thus Earth’s.
Scientists Plan To Produce A Solar Artificial Total Eclipse
The Sun’s corona is the source of solar wind and huge magnetic eruptions that can damage life on Earth. The solar corona is the Sun’s atmosphere and it extends millions of kilometers from the Sun’s surface. Proba-3 needs to become a very accurate instrument. It needs to be controlled up to the millimeter. The two satellites of Proba-3 must align in Earth orbit 144 meters apart.
The sunlight bends blocking discs that degrade the image taken with any instrument so far because of the high level of stray light.
Proba-3 will surpass the stray light issue due to the carbon fiber reinforced polymer discs. An external 1,4 meters in diameter and an internal 3,5 millimeters one will block the sun’s light and heat, revealing just the corona. At this point, Proba-3 is being manufactured.
