🔗 Share this article

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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 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," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study 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 thermal output – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.