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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

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

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing 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 lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

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

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.