🔗 Share this article The Reason 2026 Will Be a Year Like No Other for India's Solar Observation Mission A coronal mass ejection is much bigger than Earth Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique. This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle. According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places. It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer. Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance. "In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more daily." Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space. Northern lights lit up the darkness across America last autumn Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit. "The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains. "However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites." Historical Solar Incidents The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for hours During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way. The Sun's corona can be seen when the Moon blocks the Sun from Earth The Mission's Special Capability There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere. "The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher. In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses. Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction. Preparation for Maximum Activity To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now. It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less. At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively. Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one. The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels. "I consider the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states. "The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.