The Sun’s outer atmosphere—the corona—only reveals itself during total solar eclipses, which happen about every 18 months on Earth, and are only visible along a narrow path. These events offer ...

The first images of an artificial solar eclipse from ESA's Proba-3 mission have been unveiled. Total solar eclipses are rare, but exactly how rare is now up for debate after the European Space Agency ...

The coronal images resulting from the first rounds of ASPIICS's observations offer a glimpse of the valuable data we can expect from this eclipse-making mission. Dietmar Pilz, ESA Director of ...

More specifically, with the Moon blotting out the main disk of the Sun, we can see details and features in the solar atmosphere, or corona, that are usually obscured from view. Now, a new satellite ...

The sun’s corona on May 23, 2025, as imaged by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3. The hair-like structures appeared with the help of an image processing algorithm.

The Occulter blocked out the Sun’s bright disk with a 1.4-meter shield, casting an 8-centimeter-wide shadow onto the Coronagraph’s optical instrument, ASPIICS, which then captured the faint ...

Two spacecraft flew 150 metres apart while perfectly aligned for several hours, enabling them to create the total solar eclipses in orbit.

How were the artificial eclipses created? During the eclipses, the ASPIICS optical instrument on the Coronagraph captured images of the solar corona while the Occulter blocked out the sun's light.

The Occulter casts a shadow 8 centimeters (3.15 inches) across onto the Coronagraph optical instrument, ASPIICS. “I was absolutely thrilled to see the images, ...

The coronal green line — the hottest part of the sun's inner corona — and a loop following a solar flare, in an image taken on May 23, 2025, by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3. | Credit ...

With its 5-centimeter aperture, ASPIICS is able to see much closer to the Sun’s surface and with greater clarity than ever before. Proba-3 Occulter eclipsing Sun for Coronagraph spacecraft.

During the eclipses, the ASPIICS optical instrument on the Coronagraph captured images of the solar corona while the Occulter blocked out the sun's light.