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For Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit recently – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect them to be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to 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, even during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from a major solar eruption 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 struck the ship 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 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.