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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.