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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized 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, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

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

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, this serves 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 our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

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