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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch our star during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during solar events," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the expert classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred during periods 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 learnings from this will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.