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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will help us developing 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.