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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated 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.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.