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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space last year – will be able to observe the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does 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 – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information obtained from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.