The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a stunning time-lapse of a trio of solar eruptions exploding into space from the sun during an "artificial eclipse." The unique footage, captured by the newly operational Proba-3 mission, could help scientists unravel one of the biggest mysteries surrounding our home star, researchers say.
The Proba-3 mission consists of two probes, dubbed the coronagraph and the occulter, which were launched into a highly elliptical orbit around Earth in December 2024. By perfectly aligning the coronograph behind the occulter, scientists can view the sun with its bright center fully obscured, just like we see from the planet's surface during a solar eclipse — but more frequently and over longer periods of time. This allows researchers to study the hidden subtleties of the sun's faint atmosphere, or corona, like never before.
