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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space last year – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

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 learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.