ESA solar probes Proba-3: Time-lapse shows three intense prominences at once
Using artificial solar eclipses, the ESA probes Proba-3 are researching the corona of our home star. Now there is an impressive time-lapse.
Screenshot of one of the prominences
(Image: ESA/Proba-3/ASPIICS, NASA/SDO/AIA)
On September 21st, within five hours, the ESA space probes Proba-3 observed three intense matter eruptions on the sun, and now the space agency has released a time-lapse of it. It was composed of recordings of our star, taken every five minutes by Proba-3 and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. First, a still relatively small prominence is visible in the upper right, followed by a larger one in the upper left, and finally the most intense one in the lower right. Such a coincidence of multiple matter eruptions is quite rare, explains Andrei Zhukov from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, who leads the research with the coronagraph used.
(Image:Â ESA/Proba-3/ASPIICS, NASA/SDO/AIA)
In the composite images, the outer (yellow) part comes from Proba-3's sensors, showing the inner solar corona. It is about two hundred times hotter there than on the sun's surface, explains the ESA. When significantly cooler plasma is ejected from there, it is referred to as an active prominence. In such a solar eruption, the plasma is ejected in different directions. Because the solar corona is outshone by the sun's intensely bright light, it can only be made visible with auxiliary means. At the same time, the eruptions are of great value for research, as they allow conclusions to be drawn about processes beneath the sun's surface.
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Proba-3 consists of two satellites that work together with the highest precision to make the solar corona visible. One of the two casts a shadow on the second, which thereby enjoys an artificial solar eclipse. The immensely bright solar disk is thus obscured, and only the corona remains visible. The data collected are intended to provide insights into space weather, coronal mass ejections, and solar storms, which can affect satellites and also impact communication on Earth. Those responsible also want to understand why the corona is so much hotter than the sun's surface in the first place. And incidentally, such impressive images emerge again and again.
(mho)
