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

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

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

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we evaluated to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.