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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

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

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting 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 a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Even though the numbers seem incredibly large, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.