The Reason 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for India's Sun Mission

Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

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

As per scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.