🔗 Share this article Why 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for India's Solar Observation Mission A massive solar eruption can be several times larger than our planet Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other. It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star during its maximum activity cycle. As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places. It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona. Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun. "During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day." Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space. The aurora borealis illuminated the night sky over the US in November Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit. "The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains. "But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Past Solar Events The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way. The Sun's corona can be seen when the Moon blocks the Sun from our perspective Aditya-L1's Special Capability While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere. "The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the researcher. In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses. Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth. Readiness for Maximum Activity To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now. It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less. At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively. Even though these figures make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event. The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels. "I consider the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states. "The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.