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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching our star, 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 permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

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

"The insights gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.