Acktar Magic Black™ Coating Enables Highly Detailed Images of the Sun

KIRYAT GAT, Israel, Feb. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Acktar Magic Black™ Coating Enables Highly Detailed Images of the Sun

Company's coating used on European Space Agency Solar Orbiter Mission

Acktar, a world leader in black coatings, announced its Magic Black™ coating was used to coat light-sensitive instruments on the Solar Orbiter (SolO), a European Space Agency mission. Set to hold orbit closer than any other mission at just 42 million kilometers from the sun, SolO has already provided the world with the most detailed images of the sun's surface ever captured, including newly-discernable features.

One such feature, which scientists nicknamed 'campfires', appears to be tiny solar flares that are up to a billion times smaller than any previously known. Additionally, the orbiter measured the composition of solar wind and linked it to its area of origin on the sun's surface, and captured footage of coronal mass ejections, which have the potential to impact weather patterns on earth.

Among other optical and scientific instruments aboard the Solar Orbiter is METIS, the Multi Element Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy, built by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its opto-mechanical components incorporate Acktar's Magic Black™ coating. This ultra-black coating prevents stray light from outshining the fainter solar corona, making reliable measurements possible even in the difficult conditions resulting from the sun's proximity.

"This mission was designed to provide new insights into the processes in and on the sun. METIS is used to take fine measurements of the sun, and since any stray light can make measurements impossible, key surfaces in METIS were coated with our ultra-black coating," said Dina Katsir, CTO at Acktar. "The first images coming out of the mission are already exceeding expectations in terms of details and spatial resolution and promise a wealth of scientific data."

In addition to advancing humanity's understanding of the sun, METIS also records valuable data as the orbiter passes through tails of comets. The data includes particle composition and magnetic imaging, providing scientists with rare insight into the interaction of comets and solar winds.

The Solar Orbiter is an open space mission, and most of its findings will be released to the public. The orbiter, which originally launched in February 2020, began its primary mission in November 2021. The ESA team is dedicated to releasing data from the mission within 90 days of receiving it from space, and which means we should expect more images in the near future.

Magic Black™ was chosen for this mission after rigorous testing. It can withstand deployment in environments where temperatures exceed 450ºC and has a long record of successful space missions. The coating doesn't outgas or generate particles and is both vacuum and thermo-vacuum compatible. Even at high thermal and mechanical loads, Magic Black™ coatings adhere reliably.

Acktar Magic Black™ ability to capture stray light is based on its exquisite inner structure. Despite being only 7.5 - 8.5 µm thin, it absorbs up to 99% of the light it encounters.

The latest data from the orbiter, including a second encounter with a comet from December 17, 2021, was recently released by ESA and is now being analyzed worldwide.

About Acktar

Acktar is a world industry leader in the development and production of light-absorbing black coatings. Our products are incorporated in many technological applications, from delicate medical equipment, through innovative components in autonomous cars, to many major space missions. We are proud of our coatings' unique optical and surface properties, as well as our commitment to the environment. We build ecologically clean, inorganic, nontoxic products that often replace traditional processes that are sources of pollutants and toxic substances.

Acktar is based in Israel and has subsidiaries in Germany and Japan.

Learn more at http://www.acktar.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Media Contact

Dina Katsir, Acktar, 972 508555638, [email protected]

SOURCE Acktar