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

For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.