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For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence 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 weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us developing the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.