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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes 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 marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh 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 the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels 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 these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.