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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities 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 cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

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

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.