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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

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 storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.