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For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the spacecraft – which was placed in orbit last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

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

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, record its temperature at the source and watch its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, India's spacecraft holds an edge compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together to study information obtained from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons each.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he states.

"The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.