With Proba-3, the European Space Agency creates an artificial solar eclipse by bringing two satellites together instead of waiting for natural solar eclipses.
This artificial eclipse will be used to study the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona.
The corona is the sun's outermost layer. It still remains one of the most mysterious parts of our star.
Although the sun's surface glows at about 5,500°C, the corona's temperature goes as high as 1-3 million°C.
Normally, the corona is visible when it is eclipsed totally during a total solar eclipse because the moon blocks some light from the sun.
Unfortunately, these natural phenomena occur rarely and for just short periods.