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

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

As per research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – 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 of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.