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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, this occurs approximately once every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun changing from calm to stormy and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to traverse the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated there will be over ten each day."

Studying coronal mass ejections ranks among 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 planetary system, and two, since events that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating geomagnetic storms that impact conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising many from India, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert clarifies.

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

Historical Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm in history occurred during the Carrington Event that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and watch its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"The instrument has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

Essentially, this instrument functions as an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let scientists continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it measure eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for the upcoming solar maximum, researchers collaborated to study the data gathered from one of the largest solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Even though these figures seem incredibly large, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be CMEs with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings from this will help us developing protective measures to be adopted to protect spacecraft in near space. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.