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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although the numbers seem massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.