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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.