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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly once 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 of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

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 per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden 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 spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.