The Proba-2 spacecraft experienced two partial solar eclipses in one day

The partial solar eclipse of October 25, 2022 was visible from the entire Northern Hemisphere, but one spacecraft, permanently observing the Sun, saw it during its two orbits around Earth

On October 25, 2022, the European Space Agency's Probe-2 spacecraft recorded two partial solar eclipses. This picture depicts one of them. See the video below in a higher resolution. Photo: European Space Agency
On October 25, 2022, the European Space Agency's Probe-2 spacecraft recorded two partial solar eclipses. This picture depicts one of them. See the video below in a higher resolution. Photo: European Space Agency

ESA's Proba-2 sun-observing spacecraft photographed two partial solar eclipses on October 25, 2022.

Proba-2 is the second spacecraft in the series, building on the nearly eight years of successful experience of Proba-1. Proba is an acronym in English for Project for On-Board Autonomy. Probe satellites are among the smallest ever flown by the European Space Agency (ESA), but they are advancing space technology.

A solar eclipse is caused by the movement of the moon around the earth. From our vantage point on Earth, the Moon and the Sun occupy the same spatial angle. Occasionally, the Moon passes in front of the Sun, blocking its light, so that part of the Earth's surface is in the Moon's shadow. The position is not always perfect (sometimes the moon tilts slightly north or south of the imaginary line connecting the earth to the sun, so not every eclipse is a total solar eclipse.

On October 25, only part of the Sun's light is blocked by the Moon, creating a partial eclipse. It was visible from most of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, with the moon blocking 82% of sunlight near the North Pole. In Europe, up to 40% of the sunlight was hidden during the event (in Israel about 30%).

This partial eclipse was observed by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-2 spacecraft from its unique vantage point in space. Its SWAP instrument studies the Sun in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light, where it focuses on the Sun's corona - the Sun's hot and turbulent atmosphere - where temperatures reach about a million degrees. The crown is visible in the background of this video.

For us on Earth, the Moon only passes in front of the Sun once during a solar eclipse. Since Proba-2 orbits the Earth in about 100 minutes, it was able to observe this eclipse not once but twice. In addition, the Moon was first observed as it crossed the field of view in the upper right corner, but did not block sunlight 10:30 UTC was interrupted when Proba-2 experienced an occultation. Such obscuration occurs when Proba-2 flies through Earth's atmosphere and the SWAP tool is inactive. The second partial eclipse was captured around 12:25 UTC. The embedded video above shows both defects.

The spacecraft that saw the October 2022 solar eclipse twice. Photo: PROBA 2 of the European Space Agency

החללית צופה השמש של ESA מנטרת את התנהגות השמש כדי להבין טוב יותר את ההשפעה של "מזג האוויר" בחלל על כוכב הבית שלנו. משימת Solar Orbiter בהובלת ESA, בשיתוף עם נאס"א, מקיפה את השמש קרוב  יותר מאי פעם ותספק את התמונות הראשונות ברזולוציה גבוהה של קטבי השמש. בינתיים, ESA Vigil תהיה החללית  הראשונה שתפקח עין מתמדת על אירועי "מזג אוויר" חלליים (סופות שמש) כדי להגן טוב יותר על תשתיות חיוניות בכדור הארץ ובמסלול.

Image Caption: PROBA English acronym for Autonomous Satellite Project Proba satellites are among the smallest ever flown by ESA, but their impact on the advancement of space technology is great.. Proba-2 is the second in the series, and it builds on nearly eight years of successful experience in Proba-1. Credit: ESA

כיתוב תמונה 2 גודלו של הלוויין Proba-2 הוא 0.6 × 0.6 × 0.8 מטר. זה מבנה בצורת תיבה עם שני פאנלים סולאריים נפרסים ומשקל נומינלי של 130 ק"ג. המבנה המכני העיקרי מורכב משלושה לוחות חלת דבש מאלומיניום המסודרים בתצורת H ופאנל תחתון המשמש כממשק לרכב השיגור. כמעט כל יחידות מערכת הלוויין מותקנות על לוחות פנימיים אלה. קרדיט: ESA/פייר קאריל

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