Why the Year 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for India's Sun Mission

For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

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

According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

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