main page newsspace newsthe russian satellite photographed an eclipse twice

The Russian satellite photographed an eclipse twice. / July 23, 2009 /

TESIS — Russian observatory, located on board of the «Coronas-Photon» satellite, has made a unique survey of the last solar eclipse, according to the official site of the project. Because of an orbit spacecraft was able to observe twice as the Moon covers the disc body.

For the first time the satellite passed through the area of the eclipse at about 4:30 am Moscow time, becoming the first terrestrial device, which saw the event. The second time «Coronas-Photon» is in the shadow of the moon in four hours. According to researchers, the disappearance of the Sun from the sky has become a serious test for the sensor apparatus: the point is that the satellite is oriented in the space of a luminary.

Scientists point out that during the eclipse was lost Japanese satellite for observing the Sun Yohkoh in 2001. The system of orientation in the unit has deployed its search lights so that batteries satellite turned back to the star party. As a result, when the sun came out, Yohkoh was not able to charge the batteries and switched inoperable.

Observatory «TESIS» is a set of telescopes, installed on the Russian satellite «Coronas-Photon». The satellite was launched into orbit on Jan. 30, 2009 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, and is a three-year work in orbit.

Print version