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

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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once 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 sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 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 was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.