ESA’s Proba-2 captured two partial photo voltaic eclipses on 8 April 2024.
A photo voltaic eclipse happens when the Moon passes between Earth and the Solar, completely or partially blocking the Solar from Earth’s standpoint. On 8 April, fortunate viewers throughout North America witnessed the Moon blocking out the Solar in its entirety for a couple of minutes, whereas these north and south of the ‘whole eclipse path’ witnessed a partial eclipse.
All through the eclipse interval, the Moon crossed Proba-2’s area of view twice, showing as a partial photo voltaic eclipse. The satellite tv for pc flies round 700 km above Earth’s floor in what is known as a Solar-synchronous orbit, every orbit lasting round 100 minutes.
The video was produced from pictures taken by Proba-2’s SWAP telescope, which observes the Solar in excessive ultraviolet mild. At these wavelengths, the turbulent nature of the Solar’s floor and corona – the Solar’s prolonged ambiance – change into seen. These measurements need to be comprised of area, as a result of Earth’s ambiance doesn’t permit such quick wavelengths of sunshine to move by way of.
A complete photo voltaic eclipse gives a novel alternative to see the Solar’s corona from Earth’s floor, utilizing seen mild. Because the Moon blocks many of the Solar’s vibrant mild, the faint corona might be discerned. By evaluating the SWAP ultraviolet pictures to what’s seen by (seen mild) telescopes on Earth, we are able to be taught concerning the temperature and behavior of various constructions within the corona.
Different photo voltaic missions additionally made the many of the distinctive measurement alternatives offered by the eclipse. For instance, ESA’s Photo voltaic Orbiter was positioned near the Solar and at a 90-degree angle from Earth’s view all through the eclipse. This allowed it to enrich Earth-based observations by monitoring the Solar’s corona side-on, together with any photo voltaic eruptions pointing in Earth’s course.
