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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.