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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

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

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.