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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

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

Researching CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see what happens 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, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.