The Reason the Year 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for India's Sun Mission

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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.