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

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

According to research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise 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 may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.