Get the latest tech news

ESA two-part Proba-3 spacecraft is meant to create artificial solar eclipses

The Proba-3 mission will study the Sun with self-made eclipses.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to create its own solar eclipses so that researchers can study one of the more difficult-to-observe parts of the Sun’s anatomy: its blazing-hot corona. ESA technology director Dietmar Pilz said in a statement that getting the two to “act as if they are one enormous 150-m long instrument” will be an “extremely technical” challenge. Its release today comes as much of the US is getting ready to watch on April 8th as the ultimate occulter — the Moon — traverses the Sun and creates a total eclipse that will swing from South Texas to Maine.

Get the Android app