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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see 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 trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.