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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to observe 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 would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"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."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm 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 nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.