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For Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.