🔗 Share this article Why the Year 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission A coronal mass ejection can be much bigger than Earth For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be like no other. It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle. According to research, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions. It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer. Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance. "During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day." Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit. Northern lights illuminated the night sky across America last autumn Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit. "The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains. "But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites." Historical Solar Incidents The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for nine hours During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way. The solar atmosphere can be seen during a total solar eclipse from our perspective The Mission's Special Capability While other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona. "Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert. Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments. Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction. Readiness for Peak Period To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now. This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less. Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively. Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one. The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels. "In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states. "The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.