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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – 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 peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

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

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.