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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

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

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.