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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency 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 coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, being a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – 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 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Even though these figures seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.