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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

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

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.