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For Aditya-L1, the year 2026 will be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – which was placed in orbit recently – can observe the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

This period marked by intense activity. It involves our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the number of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed exceeding 2,000 miles each second. It can travel toward various directions, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take an ejection 15 hours to traverse the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or quiet periods, our star launches a few solar eruptions a day," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections ranks among the most important scientific objectives for the Indian maiden solar mission. Firstly, because the ejections offer a chance to learn about the star at the centre of our planetary system, and two, because activities that take place on the Sun threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Effects on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

CMEs rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting the weather in near space, where nearly thousands of spacecraft, comprising Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful displays from solar eruptions are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the scientist explains.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, disable electrical networks and disrupt weather and communication satellites."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines across the globe
• During 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting six million people in darkness for nine hours
• During late 2015, solar activity disturbed flight operations, causing disruption in Sweden and some other European airports
• Recently in 2022, a CME caused 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect solar activity or solar eruption in real time, measure its heat at origin and track its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off electrical systems and satellites redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 holds an edge over others regarding studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it effectively simulate lunar coverage, fully covering the Sun's photosphere and allowing it continuous observation of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

Essentially, the coronagraph functions as a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions using optical wavelengths, letting it measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – key clues indicating how strong a CME would be when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists worked together analyzing information gathered from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to the atomic bombs used in Japan were much smaller in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs on Earth carried enormous energy and during the Sun's maximum activity cycle, there may be eruptions carrying power matching greater levels.

"I consider the CME we analyzed happened when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he says.

"The learnings gained will help us work out the countermeasures to implement to protect satellites in orbit. They will also help us gain a better understanding of our space environment," he adds.