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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit recently – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

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

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.