The calibration of LYRA data (level 2) has been updated on December 31 2016 00:00:00 to take into account new information about the evolution of dark current, as well as the result of the last calibration campaigns. This update currently results in a small amplitude jump in the timeseries. This jump should disappear the next time the data will be reprocessed, in a few months.
A sungrazer comet is racing towards its close encouter with the solar corona. As part of a massive, world-wide campaign to study the comet, the SWAP imager will attempt to capture images of the comet as it passes the sun. If SWAP is able to see the comet, the observations could yield important information both about comets, the solar corona, and the sun's complex magnetic field.
On October 3, the Sun unleashed its most powerful eruption since 2017: a solar flare classified as X9.0 on the GOES scale, accompanied by a significant coronal mass ejection. We also observed a signal related to this flare in the Herzberg channel which is extremely rare.
After all the excitement surrounding the Great American Eclipse earlier this year, it is easy to forget that another one of these mesmerising was scheduled for the fall. The PROBA2 team prepared for special observations on October 2 when the instruments onboard had a first row seat of the eclipse.
Once more, the solar physics team of the Royal Observatory of Belgium invites external researchers to join in the data exploitation of its space telescopes on the PROBA2 microsatellite (SWAP, LYRA) and on Solar Orbiter (EUI).
April 8, 2024. A date that has been highlighted in many calendars for months. It is the day of the Great American Eclipse, as it is now called. A total eclipse during which the Moon’s shadow will cover large parts of Mexico, the USA and Canada. In fact, weather permitting, all of Noth America will witness at least a partial eclipse on that day.
On Saturday, October 14, an annular solar eclipse crossed North, Central, and South America. Due to its fast polar orbit, the PROBA2 satellite did not cross the eclipse path, but instead observed several partial eclipses.
The EUI and SWAP/LYRA PI teams welcome research proposals for the 2024 round of its Guest Investigator Program for research based on EUI, SWAP or LYRA data analysis by scientists outside the PI teams.
In the early hours of April 20 a solar eclipse took place. Regions on Earth that saw, at least, a partial eclipse include parts of South/East Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. This meant that only a very small fraction of the world's population was able to witness this event. Even if it was a difficult eclipse to observe from the ground, PROBA2 had a front-row seat!
The dark current estimate that is used in the calibration of SWAP images has been updated. The new calibration file is applied in the routine production of SWAP LV1 files starting today. This dark current analysis allowed us to confirm that the SWAP instrument is in excellent health and does not show significant degradation, even after 14 years in orbit!