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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space recently – can watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.