🔗 Share this article

Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out 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 velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.