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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed into space last year – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles changing places.

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

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

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

Past Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, 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 effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

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

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.