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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – can observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.