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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space last year – can watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect them to be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on Earth and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, causing disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

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 origin and watch its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

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

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining solar events in visible light, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights gained will help us work out protective measures to implement to protect spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.