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

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

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight 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 the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Although the numbers seem incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The learnings from this will help us developing the countermeasures to implement to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.