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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 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 solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

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