For India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be like no other.
This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.
As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.
This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.
Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.
"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."
Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.
CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.
"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.
"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."
If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.
While other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.
"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.
In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.
Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.
In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.
This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.
Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.
Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.
The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to even more than that.
"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.
"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.
