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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.