🔗 Share this article The Reason 2026 Is Set to Be a Year Like No Other for the Indian Sun Mission A massive solar eruption is much bigger than Earth For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique. It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle. As per scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places. It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by 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 charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance. "In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day." Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space. Northern lights lit up the night sky over the US last autumn Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit. "The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains. "But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Past Solar Events The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for hours In November 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way. The Sun's corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse from our perspective Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere. "The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert. Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments. Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction. Readiness for Maximum Activity In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently. It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes. Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons each. Although these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one. The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels. "I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says. "The insights gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.