🔗 Share this article Why 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for India's Solar Observation Mission A massive solar eruption can be much bigger than our planet For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique. It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle. As per research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions. It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona. Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun. "During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten daily." Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space. The aurora borealis lit up the night sky across America in November Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed. "The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies. "However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Historical Solar Events The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety. The Sun's corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse from Earth The Mission's Unique Advantage There are other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere. "The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the expert. Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments. Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth. Preparation for Maximum Activity To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists 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 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes. At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively. Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one. The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that. "I consider the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says. "The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.