Witness the Sun’s Hidden Secrets: Revolutionary Telescope Brings Artificial Solar Eclipse to Space
Installed on the outer wall of the International Space Station at an altitude of 400 km
Naming ‘Codex’… Mounted solar surface shade
Identifying the cause of Corona’s ultra-high temperature… Prevention of solar wind damage
A view of the sun taken in 2000 using the ‘Corona Graph’ carried by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on a satellite launched in 1995. The corona, the upper atmosphere of the sun, was captured shaking. Provided by NASA
The ‘CODEX’ jointly developed by Korean and American researchers (right photo) and the location where the Codex will be installed on the International Space Station (ISS) (left photo). Provided by Aerospace Administration
The special telescope ‘Coronagraph’ for observing the solar atmosphere, jointly developed by Korea and the United States, was launched into space. The coronagraph creates an artificial solar eclipse by spreading a veil in space to easily observe the corona, the top layer of the sun’s atmosphere. The mission will be to determine why the corona has extremely high temperatures and to closely observe the ‘solar wind’ trends that cause communication disruptions on Earth.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) loaded the corona graph, jointly developed with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute under the Korea Aerospace Administration, on the US company Space ) It was announced on this day that it was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch scene was broadcast live on NASA’s official website.
Korean and American researchers named the corona graph they developed ‘CODEX’. Codex has a total weight of 220 kg, including the cylindrical body and solar tracking device. The width and length are each 1.5m, and the height is 1.3m.
Codex is scheduled to be installed on the outer wall of the International Space Station (ISS), floating 400km above the Earth’s surface. The ISS orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, and Codex observes the solar corona for up to 55 minutes.
The reason for launching Codex is to unlock the secrets of the corona, the sun’s uppermost atmosphere. The corona is very hot, reaching a temperature of 1 to 5 million degrees, but the surface temperature of the sun is only 6,000 degrees. The reason why the coronavirus is particularly hot is not known.
To determine the cause, the corona must be continuously observed, but the corona, which is 1 million times darker than the sun’s surface, can only be seen during a total solar eclipse when the sun’s surface is completely covered by the moon. The principle is similar to how if you want to see a candle standing next to a bright car headlight, you have to cover the headlight as much as possible with your palm.
Codex is a special telescope that creates an ‘artificial total solar eclipse’ to overcome these limitations. The bright light from the sun’s surface is blocked with a round screen and the corona is observed. You can see the corona at any time without having to wait for a natural total solar eclipse.
On this day, NASA announced, “With the codex, we will be able to determine the formation process of the solar wind.” The solar wind is generated from the corona, and is a phenomenon in which electrically charged material is pushed like wind. If solar winds hit the Earth, communications could be disrupted or power grids damaged. Using the codex that observes the corona, it is possible to predict when and with what intensity the solar wind will blow into the Earth, making it possible to prepare appropriately.
Even now, there are two Coronagraphs launched and operated by NASA and others in space. However, it is old equipment that has been in operation for about 20 to 30 years. On the other hand, the Codex launched this time is the latest equipment. The Space Agency expects that by using CODEX, unlike existing equipment, it will be possible to comprehensively observe the shape of the corona as well as its temperature and emission rate at the same time.