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For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise 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 CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

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

"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 event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major 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 – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.