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

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

According to research, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of fire that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach a speed of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At top speed, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions a day," says a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Researching CMEs ranks among the key scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our planetary system, and secondly, because activities that take place on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, yet they impact life on Earth through generating magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in Earth's vicinity, where nearly 11,000 satellites, comprising many from India, orbit.

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

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, disable power grids and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar storm ever recorded was the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting millions without power for hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing chaos in Sweden and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot solar activity or a coronal mass ejection in real time, measure its heat at the source and track its trajectory, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and satellites and move them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

While other space observatories observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk permitting an uninterrupted view of almost all of the corona around the clock, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

Essentially, this instrument acts like an artificial Moon, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine eruption heat and thermal output – key clues that show how strong a CME would be if it headed our direction.

Readiness for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together to study information obtained from a major solar eruption recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – the iceberg that struck the ship weighed much less.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels with energy equivalent was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

Although the numbers make it sound massive, the expert describes it as a moderate event.

The space rock that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and during solar peak occurs, there may be eruptions with energy content matching even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us developing the countermeasures to implement safeguarding satellites in near space. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he adds.