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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – 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 a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. 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 gained will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.