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For Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

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

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number 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 can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

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

Researching CMEs is one of the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study 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 Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are direct evidence that charged particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption across Scandinavia and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures 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 the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.