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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 observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by 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.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view 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 acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study the data obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.