Astronomers have launched two satellites from India that aim to create artificial eclipses on Earth, starting in 2025. The satellites, part of the ESA’s Proba-3 mission, will cause six-hour-long eclipses, much longer than natural ones.
The mission also includes observing the Sun’s ethereal corona, which is difficult to see from Earth. The satellites are currently orbiting in tandem but will eventually separate using a precise procedure. Each satellite is smaller than a car but packed with probes and sensors.
One spacecraft, Occulter, will block sunlight to reveal the coronagraph’s observations of the solar corona. By doing so, scientists hope to study super-heated gases and potential small-scale plasma waves that fuel the corona’s temperatures. They also seek evidence of plasma jets that could accelerate the solar wind.
The mission has two main objectives: taking frequent photographic images of the corona to detect fast-moving plasma waves, and searching for signs of plasma jets that could influence the solar wind’s speed.
Source: https://www.salon.com/2024/12/09/european-satellites-launched-to-create-an-artificial-eclipse