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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

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

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability 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 track its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.