The Reason 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – can observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse 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, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft 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 lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.