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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

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

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

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

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.