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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing information obtained from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.