The Reason the Year 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for India's Solar Observation Mission

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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs 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 sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

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

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

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

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.