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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can watch the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

According to scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

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

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.