Why 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.