Why 2026 Is Set to Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Sun Mission

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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated 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 and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.