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Regarding India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

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

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere 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 expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.