Why 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Sun Mission

Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

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

As per scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

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

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study information obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

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

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.