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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 – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately once 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 sees our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, 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 solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from a major CMEs 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 – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.