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Regarding India's first solar observatory, 2026 will be truly unique.

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – that entered into space last year – can observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

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

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees the Sun changing from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that blow out from the solar corona.

Made up 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, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, the journey takes an ejection about half a day to cover the 150 million km between Earth and the Sun.

"During typical or low-activity times, our star emits a few solar eruptions daily," says an astrophysics expert. "In 2026, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Researching CMEs is one of the most important research goals of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the star in the center of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the Sun endanger infrastructure on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections seldom present a direct threat to people, but they do affect life on Earth by causing magnetic disturbances affecting conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME are auroras, which are direct evidence that solar particles from our star are travelling to Earth," the expert explains.

"But they can also cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft malfunction, disable power grids and disrupt meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Past Solar Incidents

• The strongest solar event in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, affecting six million people in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, a CME caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

If we are able to observe what happens on the Sun's corona and spot solar activity or solar eruption as it happens, measure its heat at the source and track its trajectory, this serves as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft and move them to safety.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other solar missions watching our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of almost all solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," notes the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph functions as an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare to let researchers constantly study its faint outer corona – a feat the real Moon provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show the intensity of an eruption if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated analyzing 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 was 270 million tonnes – the iceberg that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content was equivalent to 2.2 million megatons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale each.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see eruptions with energy content matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the standard for future comparison to evaluate what to expect during solar maximum occurs," he states.

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