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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space recently – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. 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 quiet periods, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, 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, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.