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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

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

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.