of european space agency (ESA) has released stunning time-lapse footage of three solar explosions exploding into space. solar During an “artificial solar eclipse.” Unique footage captured by the newly operational Proba 3 mission could help scientists solve one of the biggest mysteries surrounding our home planet, researchers say.
The Proba-3 mission consists of two probes called Coronagraph and Occulter. launched into a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth In December 2024. By perfectly aligning the chronograph behind the occulter, scientists can see the sun with its bright center completely hidden. as seen from the surface of the earth inside solar eclipse — but more often and for longer periods of time. This will allow researchers to study the hidden subtleties of the sun’s faint atmosphere, or corona, in a way never before possible.
During the video, three main plasma plumes are shot out from the sun. At first glance these look like solar flare — A massive explosion could occur throw a solar storm at the earth. But if you look closely at the solar disk, you won’t see any bright flashes, the obvious signs of a flare. Instead, what we see is What researchers call prominencesIt’s a loop of plasma that towers over the surface of the sun, and when it gets too stretched, it breaks, sending ionized gas flying into space.
Although prominences are less powerful than flares, they can be just as valuable to researchers because they are usually harder to spot. Andrei ZhukovThe Belgian Royal Observatory researcher and principal investigator of the Proba-3 chronograph explained: statement. “It’s unusual to see so many prominence eruptions in such a short period of time, so I’m very happy that we were able to capture them so clearly during our observation period.”
The bright light emitted by prominence eruptions suggests that they are significantly hotter than the surrounding corona. But in reality, their plasmas are much cooler, “only about 10,000 degrees” compared to the million-degree corona, Dzhokov said.
Zhukov said the ultra-high temperature of the corona, which is “about 200 times hotter than the sun’s surface,” is one of the sun’s greatest mysteries. Until now, scientists have struggled to explain Why is Corona so hot? And footage like this could be the key to figuring it out, he added.
All eyes are on the sun
Proba-3 has currently observed at least 50 different artificial solar eclipses. Operation begins collected about 7 months ago and expects to collect hundreds more over the next few years, according to ESA. However, this is not the only new technology making waves in the solar physics community.
For example, in June 2025, NASA’s CODEX telescope was installed on the outside. international space stationcollected and revealed the first images of the Sun Unprecedented confusion due to coronavirus It has something to do with the solar wind.
Last year, Hawaii’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and ESA’s Solar Probe, both scheduled to begin operation in 2021, also The most detailed photo of the sun’s surface and The first image taken of the sun’s south polerespectively.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has repeatedly descended rapidly. Closer to the sun than any spacecraft everalso captured Some great photos of our homestars It may help unravel the secrets of multiple suns.
All of these achievements were achieved when the Sun was at its most active. maximum solar activity periodwhich could provide the next clue. How powerful solar storms can affect our planet future.