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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

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

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.