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

Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.