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Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study information gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.