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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

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

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.