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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – can observe our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

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

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

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

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.