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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – can watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating 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 a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

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

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.