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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.