For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be like no other.
It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.
As per scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.
It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.
Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.
"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."
Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.
Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.
"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.
"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."
If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.
There are other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.
"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.
Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.
Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.
In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.
It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.
At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.
Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.
The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.
"In my view this eruption 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 insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.
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