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

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to observe our star when it reaches the peak of its solar cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs approximately every 11 years when the Sun's magnetic poles flip – the Earth equivalent would be the planet's poles changing places.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It involves our star changing from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the number of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of charged particles, a coronal mass ejection can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel in any direction, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to traverse the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten daily."

Researching CMEs ranks among the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections offer a chance to study the star in the center of our solar system, and two, because activities that take place on the solar surface threaten infrastructure on Earth and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact our planet through generating magnetic disturbances affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, including many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to see what happens on the Sun's corona and spot a solar storm or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, this serves as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

While other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the solar glare allowing scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, researchers collaborated analyzing the data obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has observed recently.

It originated in September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight 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 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

Although the numbers seem massive, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The space rock which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"I consider this eruption we analyzed happened during periods was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum occurs," he says.

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