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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 – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons 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 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be 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 recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.