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For Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

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

As per research, this occurs roughly 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 calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons 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, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.