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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

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

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories 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 effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.