Why 2026 Will Be an Unprecedented Year for the Indian Solar Observation Mission

Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge 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 and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.