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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space recently – can watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.