In a major milestone for solar science, researchers from Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and their international collaborators have, for the first time, jointly analysed observations of the same solar eruptions using India’s Aditya-L1 and the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 missions. The breakthrough, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, marks a new era of global cooperation and technological achievement in understanding coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—the massive bursts of plasma that can disrupt satellites and power grids on Earth.
How Two Spacecraft Unlocked the Sun’s Secrets
Aditya-L1, India’s first dedicated solar mission, was launched on September 2, 2023, by PSLV-C57, and entered its halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point on January 6, 2024. Equipped with the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), the spacecraft continuously studies the solar corona between 1.05 and 1.5 solar radii using spectroscopic observations. Meanwhile, the European Proba-3 mission, launched from Sriharikota on December 5, 2024, is a world-first in precision formation flying. Its two spacecraft maintain a separation of about 150 metres, creating an artificial solar eclipse for the ASPIICS coronagraph to image the corona from 1.1 to 3 solar radii.
By combining VELC’s spectroscopic measurements (which reveal plasma temperature and density) with ASPIICS’s detailed images (which show CME shape, movement, and mass), scientists could—for the first time—jointly measure the mass, density, and energy of CMEs extremely close to the solar surface. This region near the solar disk had long challenged researchers, as earlier space coronagraphs struggled to track the early evolution of faint CMEs and couldn’t answer how a CME’s energy is distributed between kinetic, thermal, and magnetic forms in the inner corona.
Shedding Light on the 2024 Solar Storm and Beyond
The joint analysis helped clarify why the 2024 solar storm behaved in unexpected ways, revealing new details about how eruption mass, density, and energy evolve as CMEs burst from the Sun. According to the research team, this approach provides a unique perspective on the mechanics of solar eruptions and demonstrates the scientific strength of coordinated international observations.
The work not only underscores the growing impact of Aditya-L1—India’s ambitious solar science venture—but also highlights the power of cross-continental collaboration. As solar storms are expected to intensify with the upcoming solar maximum, such partnerships could prove critical for space weather forecasting, helping protect Earth’s technological infrastructure from solar tempests.
