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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

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

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.