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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space last year – can observe our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

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

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures seem incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.