The Reason 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Sun Mission

For Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.