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

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

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.