The Reason the Year 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for India's Sun Mission

Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space recently – can watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study information gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.