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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in 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 millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.