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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

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

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.