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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt 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 can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.