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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

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

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

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

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.