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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

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

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.