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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

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

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.