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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – can watch the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel in any direction, including towards our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, our star launches a few solar eruptions daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key research goals for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star in the center of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays of a CME include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down electrical networks and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting continuous observation of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Even though these figures make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in work out the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in near space. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.