🔗 Share this article Why the Year 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Sun Mission A massive solar eruption is several times larger than our planet Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be like no other. This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle. As per scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places. It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona. Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance. "In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily." Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in space. Northern lights lit up the night sky over the US last autumn Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed. "The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies. "However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Past Solar Incidents The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety. The Sun's corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse from Earth The Mission's Special Capability There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona. "The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher. In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses. Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth. Readiness for Peak Period To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now. This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes. Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively. Although the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event. The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions carrying power matching even more than that. "In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states. "The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.