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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

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

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