🔗 Share this article

For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space last year – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together analyzing the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.