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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space last year – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits 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 is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.