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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions 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 may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information obtained from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

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

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.