Proba-3 mimics the 2026 total solar eclipse

The Sun’s inner corona appears greenish in this image taken on 30 July 2026 by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3. This image is a horizontally mirrored version of the original, creating a prediction of what the corona would look like to observers during the total eclipse on 12 August through a green filter. 

Andrei Zhukov, principal investigator for the ASPIICS instrument at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, explains how the two are related: “This is the 62nd eclipse of Proba-3's nominal operations – a part of the mission during which we acquire coronal images.  

“What makes this one unique is that it was taken about two weeks before the upcoming natural eclipse on 12 August. It takes the Sun two weeks to rotate halfway around its axis, so if we mirror the image taken by ASPIICS horizontally, we get a prediction of what the corona will look like during the natural eclipse seen from Earth two days from now. The overall large-scale coronal structure usually doesn't change much during that time.” 

The bright dot on the top left side of the image is Jupiter, which will not appear in the field of view during the eclipse on 12 August. 

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[Image description: a square image with the Sun in the centre taken during an artificial solar eclipse. Against a black background, the Sun’s bright body is covered by a black disc, and light green hair-like tendrils extend from the black disc in all directions. Bright green light peeks from behind the black disc’s edge, slowly fading towards the outer edges of the image.]