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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 – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately 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 of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.