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

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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME 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 the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs 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 key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.