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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe 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 watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.