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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – can observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

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

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

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 and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.