🔗 Share this article The Reason the Year 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission A massive solar eruption is several times larger than our planet Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be like no other. It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle. According to scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places. This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer. Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km 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 daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily." Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space. Northern lights lit up the night sky over the US last autumn Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit. "The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains. "However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites." Past Solar Events The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way. The solar atmosphere is only visible when the Moon blocks the Sun from our perspective Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage There are other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona. "Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher. Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses. Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction. Readiness for Maximum Activity To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now. This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less. Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively. Although these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event. The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels. "In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states. "The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.