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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – can watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each 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 between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at the source and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

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

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.