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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 observatory – that entered in orbit last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"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 when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.