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

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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.