🔗 Share this article Why the Year 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Sun Mission A massive solar eruption can be several times larger than our planet For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be like no other. This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle. According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places. It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer. Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain 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. "In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily." Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in space. Northern lights lit up the darkness across America in November Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed. "The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert explains. "But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Historical Solar Incidents The most powerful solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for hours During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety. The Sun's corona is only visible when the Moon blocks the Sun from Earth The Mission's Unique Advantage There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere. "Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert. Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses. Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth. Readiness for Peak Period In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently. It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes. Initially, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively. Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event. The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels. "I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states. "The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.