Why 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.