The Reason the Year 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

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