🔗 Share this article Why the Year 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Solar Observation Mission A coronal mass ejection is much bigger than our planet Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be truly unique. It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle. According to scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places. It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona. Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance. "In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more daily." Researching CMEs ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in orbit. Northern lights illuminated the night sky over the US last autumn Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed. "The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies. "But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites." Historical Solar Events The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European airports Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way. The solar atmosphere can be seen during a total solar eclipse from Earth The Mission's Unique Advantage While other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere. "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 of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert. In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments. Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth. Readiness for Peak Period To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently. It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less. At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively. Although the numbers make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one. The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that. "I consider the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says. "The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.