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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

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