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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.