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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major 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 – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.