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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

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

"The learnings gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.