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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space recently – will be able to observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.