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For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star during its maximum activity cycle.

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

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star changing from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, our star emits two to three CMEs a day," explains an astrophysics expert. "Next year, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the Sun in the center of our solar system, and two, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, knock down power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and watch its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

While other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller and 21 kilotons respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he concludes.