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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

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

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.