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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.