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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 – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.