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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 – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although the numbers seem massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.