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For India's first solar observatory, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the spacecraft – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately once every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the North and South poles changing places.

This period of great turbulence. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt 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 of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out toward various directions, even toward our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection 15 hours to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

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

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian first solar observatory. Firstly, as these eruptions offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface endanger systems on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

CMEs seldom present a direct threat to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations from solar eruptions are auroras, which are a clear example that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar event ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, leaving six million people without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption in Sweden and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage over others when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona 24 hours a day, throughout the year, even during solar events," says the expert.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – something natural eclipses provide only during eclipses.

Moreover, this is the only mission capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from a major solar eruption that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

This event began on 13 September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons and 21 kilotons respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound incredibly large, the scientist classifies it as a moderate event.

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will assist in developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.