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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.