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

Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.