🔗 Share this article

Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study information gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.