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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

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

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

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

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.