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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 observatory – which was placed into space recently – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.