The launch time for the Proba-3 technology mission is approaching. The European Space Agency has confirmed a launch on December 4, 2024. a military base near Chennai. The technology mission will be used by astronomers for long-term observations of solar eclipses. The Czech "iron in the fire" was led by solar physicists at the Ondrejov observatory.
Proba-3 is a unique mission of the European Space Agency (ESA)which will use ground-breaking satellite flight technology in a very precise formation. This technology will enable the creation of a giant space coronagraph called ASPIICS. This will be distributed on the two satellites of the Proba-3 mission, the first carrying a shadow (the so-called artificial moon) and the second carrying a special telescope - the coronagraph. With a distance of almost 150 metres and a mutual position controlled with millimetre precision, ASPIICS can observe the solar corona in conditions close to a total solar eclipse. What's more, while on Earth we can observe a total solar eclipse for a maximum of eight minutes, here it will always be available for six hours. This will give us scientific data from the low corona region just above the edge of the solar disk. This region is the least studied part of the sun's atmosphere. But it is also the site of the acceleration of coronal mass ejections, or the beginning of the solar wind. A better understanding of the evolution of both phenomena from their early stages is crucial for continuously improving predictions of the impact of solar activity on Earth, called space weather.
The project started to be prepared in 2008. The Czech participation in this mission of the European Space Agency consists of the telescope door and optics. The coronagraph telescope door, which protects the optics from contamination during launch and on orbit, was manufactured by the SERENUM subsidiary of the VZLU (Research and Testing Aeronautical Institute). All optical components of the telescope were supplied by the TOPTEC centre from Turnov, which is part of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the CAS.
The Czech participation takes place within the framework of an international consortium led by Belgium (headed by Dr. Andrej Zhukov from the Royal Observatory of Belgium). As one of the main co-investigators within the international consortium, the Czech participation was led by Stanislav Gunár, Ph.D. from the Solar Department of the Institute of Astronomy of the CAS. Professor Petr Heinzel, also from the Astronomical Institute of the CAS, together with Dr. František Fárník, has also been a major contributor to the project from the very beginning. The Czech participation in the preparation of the Proba-3 mission was funded by the PRODEX programme from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Transport.
Institute of Astronomy of the CAS/ gnews - RoZ
PHOTO - ESA
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