The Reason 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian 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 last year – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study the data obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.