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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

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

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

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

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.