🔗 Share this article

Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – 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 – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated 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.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.