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For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.