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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized 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 head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part 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, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons 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 the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view the CME we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.