Why 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for India's 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 – which was placed in orbit recently – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

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

This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. 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 with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

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

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.