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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately 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 involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

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

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.