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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.