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

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed into space last year – will be able to observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

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

It's a time marked by intense activity. 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) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, knock down power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions without power for nine 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 see events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon does only during eclipses.

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

Readiness for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons each.

Although these figures make it sound massive, the expert classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.