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For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

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

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.