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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

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

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

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.