ESA’s space weather box Proba-2 tracks stormy Sun

ESA's space weather box Proba-2 tracks stormy Sun Researchers gathered for European Space Weather Week have been presented with the latest results from ESA's own space weather station: the Proba-2 microsatellite. The unpredictably stormy Sun drives space weather: surges of charged particles can damage satellites, impede space-based services and affect terrestrial power networks. Less than a cubic metre, Proba-2 was launched on 2 November 2009 as a technology demonstrator but is now working as a science mission, having exceeded its two-year design life. Proba-2 science data are also useful for space weather monitoring: two instruments watch the Sun, with two more studying the Sun's influence on Earth's topmost ionosphere. The mission is keeping busy: it has gathered upwards of 400 000 images of the Sun and made almost 20 million in-situ ionospheric observations. This year's European Space Weather Week, taking place in the Palais des Congres in Namur, Belgium, from 28 November to 2 December included presentations by users of Proba-2 data from all over Europe. "Proba-2 science data are also distributed to scientific teams worldwide, from the US to India," noted Marie Dominique of the Royal Observatory of Brussels, responsible for Proba-2's Sun-watching sensors.