The European Space Agencys Solar Orbiter spacecraft passes above Earth tonight (Nov. 26) and may be noticeable from parts of the U.S. and western Africa with either simple binoculars or an amateur telescope.The spacecraft, which will have to fly through areas of Earths orbit with the greatest concentration of area particles, will get as close as 285 miles (460 kilometers) from Earths surface area throughout the flyby. This maneuver will use Earths gravity to push the spacecraft and flex its orbit closer to the sun so that it can begin its scientific mission.The closest pass will be observable from western Africa tonight at about 11:30 pm EST (0430 GMT Nov. 27). Solar Orbiter will then fly above the Canary Islands and across the Atlantic Ocean while it continues to move further away from Earths surface. The probe will be visible from the south of the U.S. from midnight to 3 am EST on Saturday (Nov. 27), according to Unistellar, a U.S.-based producer of amateur area telescopes. Related: Solar Orbiter spacecraft sends postcard from Venus in flyby videoSolar Orbiter ground controllers are carefully calculating the spacecrafts trajectory and its possible crossways with known pieces of area particles. (Image credit: ESA) The business has actually called on amateur astronomers in a statement, inquiring to utilize their telescopes to track Solar Orbiter during the flyby to “assist ESA validate Solar Orbiters position, identify its brightness, and examine the health of the spacecraft”. The spacecraft will be too faint to be noticeable to the naked eye throughout the flyby, ESA said on Twitter, and its speed might make tracking it with telescopes challenging. The sun explorer, created to take the closest-ever pictures of the star at the center of our planetary system, will zoom past the planet at an apparent speed of 0.3 degrees per second. Thats equivalent to covering over half of the size of the moon in one 2nd, the area agency stated on Twitter. More info about Solar Orbiters ground track and where to discover it in the sky tonight can be found on the Heavens Above website.This Earth flyby will give Solar Orbiter the final kick before its next close approach to the sun, which will take place in March of next year. For the very first time, Solar Orbiter will get to its target distance from the suns surface area, about 34 million miles (50 million km). No other spacecraft fitted with a video camera has ever flown so close. NASAs Parker Solar Probe dives closer to the sun but the heat it is subjected to is too much for it to bring a sun-facing electronic camera. Throughout its first close technique to the sun, which took location in June 2020 at a distance of 48 million miles (77 million km), Solar Orbiter found mini solar flares dubbed campfires on the surface area of the sun. These campfires may be behind one of the greatest mysteries of the suns behavior, the severe heating of its corona.Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..
(Image credit: ESA) The company has called on amateur astronomers in a statement, asking them to use their telescopes to track Solar Orbiter during the flyby to “assist ESA validate Solar Orbiters position, determine its brightness, and examine the health of the spacecraft”. More details about Solar Orbiters ground track and where to find it in the sky tonight can be found on the Heavens Above website.This Earth flyby will give Solar Orbiter the last kick before its next close technique to the sun, which will take place in March of next year. During its first close technique to the sun, which took location in June 2020 at a distance of 48 million miles (77 million km), Solar Orbiter discovered mini solar flares called campfires on the surface area of the sun.
