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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.