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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space recently – can watch our star when it reaches 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 planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.