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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 recently – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.