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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.