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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

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

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"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 when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.