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

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

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as 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 the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.