The Reason 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.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes 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 two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun 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 learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.