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Aditya-L1 Detects Asymmetric Expansion of a Solar Flare

  • 03 Nov 2026

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology on 3 November 2026, scientists utilizing the VELC instrument onboard Aditya-L1 identified the unequal expansion of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).

Key Facts

  • Scientific Study: Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, conducted a joint analysis of data from Aditya-L1 and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
  • Publication: The research on the 3D structure and dynamics of the solar eruption was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
  • Event Observed: Scientists analyzed a Coronal Mass Ejection originating from an active region near the western limb of the Sun on 5 August 2024.
  • Major Finding: The CME did not propagate uniformly in all directions; instead, asymmetric lateral expansion caused its structure to become distorted/asymmetrical.
  • VELC Instrument: The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) onboard Aditya-L1 observes the solar corona—the Sun's outermost atmosphere—using spectroscopic and diagnostic imaging techniques.
  • Emission Line: VELC studied plasma at a temperature of around 1.8 million Kelvin using the green emission line of highly ionized iron (Fe XIV) at 530.3 nm.
  • Doppler Effect: Plasma movement toward and away from the observer was identified via blueshift and redshift in the emission line, respectively.
  • Joint Observation: NASA’s SDO-AIA instrument captured the CME's motion in the plane of the sky, while VELC helped measure the line-of-sight velocity of the plasma.
  • 3D Modeling: A model with a tilted CME axis and asymmetric lateral expansion matched empirical observations, whereas a symmetric model failed to do so.
  • Lead Researchers: Lead author Saurabh Tripathi, corresponding author Tanmoy Samanta, and co-author Jayant Joshi are affiliated with the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA).
  • Scientific Significance: Understanding the asymmetric geometry of CMEs enhances the ability to model their interaction with the solar wind, their propagation velocity, and their estimated arrival time at Earth.