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

This marks the initial occasion the observatory – that entered into space recently – will be able to observe the Sun during the peak of its solar cycle.

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

It's a time of great turbulence. It sees the Sun transition from peaceful to violent and features a huge increase in the number of solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – massive bubbles of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of charged particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and can attain velocities exceeding 2,000 miles per second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes a CME 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.

"During typical or low-activity times, the Sun launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun in the center of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten infrastructure on Earth and in orbit.

Effects on Earth and Orbital Systems

CMEs seldom present immediate danger to human life, yet they impact life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that impact the weather in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

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

"But they can also make all the electronics aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid was knocked out, affecting six million people without power for hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, causing chaos in Sweden and various European airports
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites failing

If we are able to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and track its path, this serves as a forewarning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it effectively simulate the Moon, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere around the clock, throughout the year, including during solar events," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the solar glare to let researchers constantly study the dim solar atmosphere – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Moreover, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, enabling it to determine a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues that show how strong a CME would be when traveling our direction.

Readiness for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's peak solar activity period, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

This event began in September 2024 during early hours. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, its temperature was 1.8 million degrees Celsius and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – in comparison nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and during solar peak occurs, there may be CMEs carrying power equal to even more than that.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened during periods of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark that we'll be using to evaluate what to expect when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he states.

"The insights from this will assist in developing the countermeasures to be adopted to protect satellites in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid us gain deeper knowledge of near-Earth space," he concludes.