The Reason the Year 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for India's Solar Observation Mission

For India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons 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.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated in 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, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.