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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

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, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.