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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to observe 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 magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in 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.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.