Welcome to the PROBA2 Science Center

On June 7, around 6:30UT, LYRA observed an M2.5-flare with both its short-wavelength channels Aluminium and Zirconium.

On June 1st, a partial eclipse was visible on Earth at northern latitudes (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_…). Between 20:40 and 22:46UT, PROBA2 crossed twice the path of the lunar shadow and registered 2 partial solar eclipses. SWAP was acquiring images at 30s cadence and made a very beautiful recording of the lunar transits.

Both the EUV imager SWAP as the X and UV radiometer LYRA onboard PROBA2 are in operational phase for more than one year now and have been acquiring very valuable data. During that year, 11 selected PROBA2 Guest Investigators have been (or are still) visiting the PROBA2 Science Center to efficiently use SWAP and LYRA data in their scientific research.

The automatic generation of all LYRA data products after each pass is almost completely set up. Since March 17, also the level 4 data, i.e. PNG files with 1minute-averaged data, are automatically generated after each pass.

These data - both the latest as the archive - can be accessed via the webpages:

Since March 10, both LYRA and SWAP provide calibrated data in near-real time. Previously, it was only the case for SWAP, LYRA was only delivering its uncalibrated data, labeled as “level1” products. The calibration process applied to reach “level 2”, involves the correction of dark current and of filter degradation, and converts the data into irradiance units (W/m2).

Peaking at 07:35 on February 24, a flare happened at the solar North-East limb. The flare was of category M3.5, noteworthy in itself, but the associated eruption was truly remarkable with plasma being ejected and trackable all the way till the edge of the SWAP field of view. See the SWAP movies!

On February 15, around 2am, SWAP and LYRA registered their first X-flare. The active region labelled NOAA AR 1158, and located close to the centre of the solar disk, produced an X2.2 flare peaking at 01:56 UT. It was associated with an Earth directed CME, which is expected to arrive at Earth on Feb 17. The flare was observed at 50ms cadence in the four LYRA bandpasses, showing the high energy burst in the Aluminium and Zirconium channels.

Starting in December 2010, SWAP movies are made for a complete month. The image cadence is 1 hour and blurred images are removed. The movie will be made in the first week of each month and will appear in the folder proba2.sidc.be/swap/data/mpg/movies/YYYY/MM/.

Enjoy the movies of December 2010 and January 2011.

On January 4, SWAP and LYRA observed the partial solar eclipse.

Good news! On November 18, the ESA Science Programme Committee has approved the extension of PROBA2 operations until the end of 2012. SWAP and LYRA data will be scientifically exploited for at least one year longer than originally planned. This gives the science team at ROB an extra boost to proof the science excellence of these 2 instruments in the following years. Read more in the ESA article online.