🔗 Share this article

For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space recently – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.