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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated 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, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although the numbers seem massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.