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Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred 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 learnings from this will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.