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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space recently – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition 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.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe 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 trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated 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 reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.