CODEX Coronagraph Heads to the ISS on Cargo Dragon

Codex
CODEX calibration.

A new space-based telescope aims to address a key solar mystery.

A new experiment will explore a region of the Sun that’s tough to see from the surface of the Earth. The solar corona—the elusive, pearly white region of the solar atmosphere seen briefly during a total solar eclipse—is generally swamped out by the dazzling Sun. Now, the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) will use a coronagraph to create an ‘artificial eclipse’ in order to explore the poorly understood middle corona region of the solar atmosphere.

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Modern Solar Eclipse Science: Huge Coronal Mass Ejection Caught in Action

eclipse

There’s an old adage that says there is ‘nothing new under the Sun…’ but that doesn’t apply when it comes to solar eclipse science.

Beyond just providing an awesome celestial spectacle, astronomers have often taken advantage of the brief moments afforded by solar totality to explore the Sun and its environs. To this end, total solar eclipses have historically offered chances to carry out scientific experiments in the past, and continue to do so today.

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