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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

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

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.