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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

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

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although the numbers seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.