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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 observatory – that entered into space recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME 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 the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.