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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"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 nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

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

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.