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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out in any direction, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections seldom present immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey to Earth," the scientist clarifies.

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

Past Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted flight operations, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it continuous observation of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon does only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine eruption heat and heat energy – key clues indicating the intensity 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 CMEs that Aditya-L1 has observed recently.

This event began on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were much smaller in scale each.

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

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison assessing what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

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