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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – can watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, causing disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 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 permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed 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 states.

"The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.