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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 last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

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

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

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