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Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

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

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering 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," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions 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.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.