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For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

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

As per research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency 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 can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.