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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – can observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

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

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.