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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

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