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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

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

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

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