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Regarding Aditya-L1, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – which was placed in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly once every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can head out in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's first solar observatory. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"But they can also make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed air traffic control, causing chaos across Scandinavia and various European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to dozens of spacecraft failing

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

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions watching the Sun, India's spacecraft holds an edge over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining solar events in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating how strong of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together analyzing information gathered from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has observed recently.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale each.

Even though the numbers seem massive, the scientist describes it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred during periods of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us developing the countermeasures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain a better understanding of near-Earth space," he concludes.