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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 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 asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

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

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.