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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

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

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

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

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.