🔗 Share this article

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

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

As per scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

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

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.