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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun 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 occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.