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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

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

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

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

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

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

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

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.