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

This marks the initial occasion the spacecraft – which was placed into space recently – can watch the Sun during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes roughly every 11 years as the Sun's magnetic poles flip – a similar Earth scenario could be the planet's poles swapping positions.

It's a time of great turbulence. It involves the Sun transition from calm to stormy and is marked by a significant rise in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – massive bubbles of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME may have a mass of billions of tons and reach velocities of up to 3,000km each second. It can travel toward various directions, including towards the Earth. At top speed, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," explains a leading scientist. "In 2026, we expect there will be over ten each day."

Studying CMEs ranks among the key research goals of India's maiden solar mission. Firstly, as these eruptions provide an opportunity to study the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events that take place on the solar surface threaten systems on Earth and in space.

Impacts on Our Planet and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to human life, but they do affect our planet through generating magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where about 11,000 satellites, comprising Indian satellites, orbit.

"The most spectacular displays of a CME are auroras, being direct evidence that charged particles from Sun journey to Earth," the expert clarifies.

"However, they may cause electronic systems on a satellite fail, knock down electrical networks and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The strongest solar event ever recorded occurred during the Carrington Event which knocked out communication systems worldwide
• In 1989, a part of Canadian electrical network was knocked out, affecting millions in darkness for hours
• In November 2015, solar activity disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection caused dozens of spacecraft being lost

With capability to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at the source and watch its path, this serves as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

Aditya-L1's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching our star, Aditya-L1 holds an edge compared to rivals regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph has perfect dimensions that lets it nearly mimic the Moon, completely blocking the solar disk permitting continuous observation of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including during eclipses and occultations," says the expert.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like a synthetic eclipse, blocking the Sun's bright surface to let scientists continuously observe the dim solar atmosphere – something natural eclipses does only during specific moments.

Moreover, this is the only mission that can study eruptions in visible light, enabling it to measure a CME's temperature and heat energy – crucial data that show the intensity a CME would be if it headed toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for the upcoming peak solar activity period, scientists worked together analyzing the data obtained from a major CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. Its mass was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, the heat reached extreme levels with energy equivalent comparable to 2.2 million megatons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs used in Japan were 15 kilotons in scale respectively.

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

The asteroid that eliminated the dinosaurs on Earth was 100 million megatons and when solar peak occurs, we could see eruptions carrying power equal to greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated happened when the Sun of typical solar activity. Now this sets the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store when the maximum activity cycle occurs," he says.

"The insights gained will assist in work out protective measures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving a better understanding of near-Earth space," he adds.