🔗 Share this article Why 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for India's Sun Mission A massive solar eruption is much bigger than our planet 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 recently – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle. As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions. It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer. Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun. "During typical or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day." Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space. Northern lights lit up the night sky over the US last autumn Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed. "The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains. "But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites." Historical Solar Incidents The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety. The Sun's corona can be seen when the Moon blocks the Sun from Earth Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage While other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere. "The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher. In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments. Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction. Readiness for Peak Period In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data obtained from a major 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 comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each. Although these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one. The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that. "I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says. "The learnings gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.