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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

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

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.