🔗 Share this article Why 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for India's Sun Mission A massive solar eruption can be several times larger than our planet For India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other. It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space last year – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle. According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places. This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer. Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance. "During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily." Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space. The aurora borealis lit up the night sky over the US in November Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit. "The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies. "However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites." Past Solar Incidents The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety. The Sun's corona can be seen when the Moon blocks the Sun from our perspective Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage While other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere. "Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert. In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments. Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction. Readiness for Peak Period In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently. It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes. At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison 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 "medium-sized" one. The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to even more than that. "I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states. "The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.