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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

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

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together analyzing the data obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.