New Delhi

Solar eclipses, which are arguably one of the most fascinating astronomical events to witness, can now be created on demand. The scientists in Europe have come up with a way to produce artificial eclipses. 

Advertisment

Under the project, which the scientists have named Proba-3, they plan on aligning two spacecraft in order to create the 'eclipse on demand'. By constructing this intricate calibration, the project aims at accomplishing the first-ever precision formation space flight and also plans to obtain fresh views of the Sun.

Earlier, the European Space Agency (ESA) during an event in Belgium last week, revealed the Proba-3 satellites, the Coronagraph and the Occulter.

As per the plan unveiled by ESA, the Occulter is set to fly around 150m from the Coronograph.

Advertisment

Once both the satellites reach their exact locations, the Occulter will project a shadow onto the Coronagraph face, further masking the sun to reveal the corona.

"The two spacecraft will act as if they are one enormous 150 metre-long instrument," said the ESA's Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, Dietmar Pilz.

Also read: Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Biden issues safety reminder, takes a dig at Trump

Advertisment

"Achieving this will be extremely technically challenging, however, because the tiniest bit of misalignment and it won't work," Pilz said.

"The development process has been correspondingly long, undertaken by a consortium of smaller ESA Member States led by Spain and Belgium. So I am very pleased to see Proba-3 here today, being prepared for launch," he added.

An experiment on similar lines was conducted in the year 1975 when astronauts from the United States and the Soviet Union collaborated to create an artificial eclipse. 

However, Proba-3 aims to carry out the feat in a routine manner successfully.

“It will demonstrate various types of formation flying configurations and it will experiment with in-orbit rendezvous techniques,” Pilz said.

“Once proven, formation flying will be an enabler for future missions,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)