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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in 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 with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.