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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique that can study eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption 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 sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us developing protective measures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.