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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.