The Reason the Year 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for India's Sun Mission

Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.