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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – can observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see 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 watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.