Why the Year 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

For India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

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, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching 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 for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.