The Reason the Year 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh 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 maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data obtained from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.