Aditya-L1 VELC Reveals Asymmetric Solar Eruption Expansion
Ministry of Science & Technology · Science & Tech · Posted 03 NOV 2026 12:17PM
What happened
Scientists using data from the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) on India's Aditya-L1 observatory and NASA's SDO discovered that a coronal mass ejection (CME) on August 5, 2024, underwent asymmetric rather than uniform expansion. This new 3-D geometric insight helps improve space-weather predictions affecting Earth's satellites and communication networks.
Why it matters for UPSC
This study illustrates the application of indigenous space missions (Aditya-L1) in advancing space science and understanding space weather, which is crucial for protecting satellites and communication networks, falling under the Science and Technology syllabus.
Key objectives
- Combine data from Aditya-L1's VELC and NASA's SDO spacecraft with 3-D modeling to reconstruct the geometry and dynamics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
- Examine nascent CMEs via spectroscopy using the 530.3 nm wavelength green emission line capturing hot coronal plasma at around 1.8 million Kelvin.
- Demonstrate that CMEs undergo non-uniform, asymmetric expansion rather than expanding like a simple symmetric bubble.