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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

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

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

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

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.