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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 last year – can watch our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to people, yet they impact our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

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

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.