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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – can observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

As per research, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the planet's poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It involves our star changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits two to three CMEs daily," explains an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important research goals of India's first solar observatory. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that charged particles from Sun journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to disruption in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to see events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat natural eclipses does only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating how strong of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers collaborated to study the data obtained from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began in 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.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

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

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we evaluated happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us developing protective measures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.