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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – will be able to watch our star when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly once every 11 years when 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 involves our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Made up of ionized particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun launches two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more each day."

Studying CMEs is one of the key scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities occurring on the Sun endanger systems on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from Sun are travelling toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite malfunction, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the Carrington Event that disabled communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions without power for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

With capability to see events on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Special Capability

While other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let researchers continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining solar events using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated analyzing the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

Even though the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet was 100 million megatons and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to even more than that.

"In my view this eruption we analyzed to have occurred during periods was in the normal activity phase. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.