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

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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as 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 involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

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

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.