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For Aditya-L1, 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed into space recently – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

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

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect them to be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, causing chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to observe events on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and satellites redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, even during solar events," notes the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although these figures seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.