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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

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

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it 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, even during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight 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 TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.