🔗 Share this article

For Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.