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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – will be able to observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, the journey takes a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, because activities occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft failing

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

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other space observatories observing the Sun, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to measure eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat was 1.8 million degrees Celsius with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in near space. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.