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The Proba-3 mission by ESA has documented a set of three solar eruptions emerging from the sun, projecting plasma masses into the corona.(Image credit: ESA/Proba-3/ASPIICS, NASA/SDO/AIA)ShareShare by:
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The European Space Agency (ESA) has unveiled an impressive time-lapse of a group of solar bursts shooting out from the sun during a simulated eclipse. The distinct recording, taken by the recently activated Proba-3 undertaking, might assist researchers in demystifying one of the key riddles involving our star, scientists suggest.
The Proba-3 mission is composed of a pair of orbiters, recognized as the coronagraph and the occulter, dispatched into a highly eccentric orbit around Earth in December 2024. By precisely positioning the coronograph behind the occulter, scientists are able to observe the sun with its intense core entirely hidden, analogous to what is seen from the planet’s surface during a solar eclipse — although more frequently and across extended intervals. This provides researchers the ability to scrutinize the veiled subtleties of the sun’s delicate atmosphere, known as the corona, in a way never done previously.
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During the footage, three notable plasma eruptions shoot out of the sun. Initially, these seem like solar flares — the immense detonations capable of launching solar disturbances in Earth’s direction. However, on closer inspection of the solar surface, there exist no brilliant flashes, which are the distinct signs of a flare. Instead, we are witnessing what researchers call prominences, representing towering plasma arcs on the sun’s outer layer that lengthen excessively and then sever, casting their ionized gaseous matter into space.
Although prominences are not as potent as flares, they are similarly valuable to experts because they are generally tougher to perceive, explained Andrei Zhukov, an investigator at the Royal Observatory of Belgium and lead researcher for Proba-3’s coronograph, in a statement. “Witnessing such a high number of prominence bursts within a condensed timeframe is uncommon, thus I am exceedingly pleased that we successfully documented them so distinctly during our observation period.”
ESA’s Proba-3 initiative involves dual probes, the coronagraph (left) and the occulter(right), which synchronize to simulate artificial eclipses in space.
The intense luminosity emanating from the prominence ejections indicates they possess significantly elevated temperatures compared to the surrounding corona. However, their plasma is actually far less hot — approximately “around 10,000 degrees” versus the million-degree corona, Zhokov reported.
The remarkably high warmth of the corona, which is “roughly 200 times warmer than the sun’s exterior,” constitutes one of the sun’s chief unresolved mysteries, Zhukov stated. Up until now, scientists have encountered difficulties in clarifying why the corona exhibits a vastly higher temperature in comparison to the remainder of the sun, and visual recordings like this might hold the solution, he appended.
All eyes on the sun
Proba-3 has now perceived a minimum of 50 separate simulated eclipses ever since beginning operations approximately seven months prior, and will ideally accumulate countless additional instances in the forthcoming years, in accordance with ESA. However, it stands as only one of the innovative instruments causing excitement among the solar physics group.
For instance, during June 2025, NASA’s CODEX telescope, secured on the exterior framework of the International Space Station, obtained its initial solar images, exposing previously unseen perturbations within the corona connected to solar wind.
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In the previous year, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope positioned in Hawaii, and ESA’s Solar Orbiter — both launched in 2021 — also documented the greatly detailed depiction of the sun’s external layer and the primary depiction of the sun’s southern pole, correspondingly.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which has been consistently advancing closer to the sun compared to any antecedent spacecraft, has additionally collected some captivating solar photographs which might contribute to demystifying several solar enigmas.
These accomplishments have occurred as the sun undergoes its most heightened stage, termed solar maximum, implying these might deliver indications regarding the potential impact of mighty solar occurrences on our planet during the future.
Harry BakerSocial Links NavigationSenior Staff Writer
Harry is a senior staff writer based in the U.K. for Live Science. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before pursuing journalism. He reports across an expansive assortment of subjects including space exploration, planetary science, space weather, climate shifts, creature behaviour and paleontology. His recent work concerning the solar peak garnered “best space submission” at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was selected as a finalist under the “top scoop” category at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2023. He also writes Live Science’s Earth from space weekly installment.
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