Many people in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia recently got the chance to watch a partial solar eclipse. In this eclipse, the Moon reached a position that obscured part of the Sun as it orbited the Earth. The European Space Agency’s Proba-2 also watched the eclipse happen and even saw the eclipse not once, but twice, due to its orbit.
The mission studies the sun in extreme ultraviolet light, allowing visualization of the Corona and filaments extending from the Sun’s surface. This work provides valuable information so that scientists can observe the behavior of the Sun and its effect on space weather around Earth.
The first observation of the eclipse began around 10:30 UTC, but unfortunately when the spacecraft began to see the Moon approaching, the SWAP instrument shut down. This is standard procedure as the spacecraft passes through Earth’s atmosphere. The second encounter was better and showed the full movement of the Moon over the Sun.
The maximum dimming occurred near the North Pole, where 82 percent of the Sun is covered. Europe, on the other hand, experienced a blackout of 40 percent at most.
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