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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

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

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.