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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us developing protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.