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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

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

According to scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent 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 from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.