π Share this article Why the Year 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for India's Solar Observation Mission A massive solar eruption can be much bigger than Earth For India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be like no other. It's the first time the spacecraft β that entered in orbit last year β will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle. According to research, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip β a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places. This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares β massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona. Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun. "During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more daily." Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space. The aurora borealis illuminated the night sky across America last autumn Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed. "The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies. "But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Past Solar Incidents The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way. The Sun's corona is only visible when the Moon blocks the Sun from our perspective Aditya-L1's Special Capability While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere. "The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert. In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona β a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments. Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy β crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth. Readiness for Maximum Activity To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently. It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons β the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes. Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives β relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each. Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one. The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content equal to even more than that. "I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states. "The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.