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For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

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

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing information gathered 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 was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature 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 and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.