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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized 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 head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although these figures make it sound 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 solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.