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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe 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 path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

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

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.