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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect satellites in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.