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For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains.

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

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"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 when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will assist in developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.