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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.