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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma 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 can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

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

Researching CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study the data obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.