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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.