🔗 Share this article

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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

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

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.