Italian scientists ready new solar instrument for high-stakes eclipse test

Italian researchers are preparing a groundbreaking solar instrument, the Circular Slit Spectrometer (CISS), for a crucial test during an upcoming total solar eclipse on August 12. The eclipse will make the Sun's corona more visible, allowing scientists to study solar activity that can impact communications and power grids on Earth.

Unlike traditional linear spectrometers, the CISS boasts a circular slit design and is capable of capturing the corona's spectrum in a single photograph, regardless of distance from the Sun's center.

Principal Investigator Federico Landini of the Astrophysical Observatory of Turin explained that the new optical principle overcomes a major limitation of existing instruments, which could take hours to scan the corona due to its constantly changing nature on minute timescales. The CISS is set to undergo this critical test at Spain's Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory during the eclipse's brief window of totality, when the Moon blocks the sun, revealing the corona.

The team, including Senior Researcher Paola Zuppella from the Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies in Padua, has spent two and a half years perfecting the instrument. They even transported it to Spain by road in a van to avoid potential flight disruptions and ensure the instrument was not dismantled and reassembled upon arrival. The successful deployment of the CISS could pave the way for future space missions to observe the Sun's outer atmosphere.