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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.