The Reason 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius 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 each.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.