🔗 Share this article Why 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for India's Sun Mission A coronal mass ejection is much bigger than our planet Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other. This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle. As per scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years as 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 sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona. Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance. "In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day." Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit. Northern lights lit up the darkness across America in November Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit. "The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains. "But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft." Past Solar Incidents The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety. The Sun's corona can be seen when the Moon blocks the Sun from Earth The Mission's Special Capability While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere. "Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher. In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses. Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth. Preparation for Peak Period In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently. This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes. Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively. Even though these figures seem massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event. The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels. "I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states. "The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.