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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem massive, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

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

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.