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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

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 storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission 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 toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated 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 sank Titanic 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 – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.