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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to 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 changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

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

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.