GONG/BB connectivity issues

On 19 July, GONG/Big Bear experienced issues with connecting to the network. Rebooting bbgong workstation did not fix the issue. The team reached out to the local support team asking them to investigate.

GONG Duty Cycle

On November 28, 2022, the volcanic eruption shut down the NSF's GONG station at Mauna Loa, Hawai'i. Since then, GONG operated as 5-station network. It was designed as 6-station network because of helioseismology requirements of high duty cycle (fraction of 24-hour day with solar observations). The plot shows the duty cycle through April 2025. GONG still meets the helioseismology requirements, but one can clearly see a drop in the duty cycle at the end of 2022 from about 95% to 85-90%. The plan is to restart GONG station at Mauna Loa by the end of this year, after the road access and the electric power are restored.

NISP data server

Work has started on replacing current Isilon data server by new Ceph cluster. Hardware for a development (sandbox) server has arrived (see photo), and it will be installed later this year. Factoring in redundancy and object storage overhead, the usable capacity in the Ceph production cluster will be around 1.5PB. In comparison, the usable storage capacity of the existing Isilon cluster is about 1.0PB of which about 913TB is currently used.

GONG data processing update

 

Processing of the network-merged daily velocity and magnetogram images, p-mode-coefficient time series, and ring-diagram analysis products for GONG month 304, and the p-mode frequency data products for central GONG month 303 is completed and the data products are now available. 

Mauna Loa Access Road

The Central Federal Lands Highway Division of the Federal Highway Administration has updated its "Request for Qualifications (RFQ)" on sam.gov with new due date 9 July 2025. That means that the schedule for Mauna Loa Access road is delayed by about a month with road completion estimated in Nov 2025. 

 

Large prominence eruption on 5 July 2025

See a large prominence at the North-West limb of the Sun rising and erupting as observed by GONG stations at Learmonth, Australia and Teide, Canary Islands on 5 July 2025, between 03:00:42 UT and 11:06:11 UT.

NISP group continues working on the GONG refurbishment project.

NISP Data Center, scientists, and engineers are currently vetting another new EVT (Emergent Vision Technologies) GONG camera at one of the NISP engineering sites in Boulder, Colorado. Five of the EVT cameras have already replaced old SMD (Silicon Mountain Design company) cameras at five sites of the GONG network. We have two more EVT cameras to vet. The two cameras and the one being currently tested, will upgrade the engineering sites.

GONG/UD Monsoon Shutdown

 The GONG station at the Udaipur Solar Observatory, India, will be commencing its annual monsoon shutdown this week.

 As the site Pyranometer indicates, the sky quality is degrading.

 

GONG operations at Big Bear, California

GONG at Big Bear Solar Observatory is currently down due to the electric power outage. Bear Valley Electric Service (BVES) informed the customers that Southern California Edison (SCE) implemented a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) affecting BVES supply lines. This is due to high winds and fire conditions forecasted in the region. Currently the PSPS warning is issued until Sunday, June 22nd, 12:00 a.m.

GONG data processing update

Processing of the network-merged daily velocity and magnetogram images, p-mode-coefficient time series, and ring-diagram analysis products for GONG month 303, and the p-mode frequency data products for central GONG month 302 is completed. The results are currently going through the final quality control before releasing it to the public.   

P.S.: As of 2025.06.23, the GONG data products have been cleared and are good to be used.

GONG data are used to predict magnetic connectivity for NASA's Parker Solar Probe

 

For the third time, NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft reached its record-breaking perihelion (closest distance to the Sun on its orbit) of 9.86 of radius of the Sun.  Perihelion (encounter) 24 occurred on 2025/06/19 at 09:31 UT. Synoptic magnetogram shows the predictions of magnetic connectivity between solar surface and the spacecraft based on GONG and SDO/HMI observations. 

Summar solstice

 Dark shadows that may appear this time of year in some GONG H-alpha images (first photo) may be tree branches, not clouds. As we approach summer solstice and the sunset reaches its most northerly position, this part of the horizon may be obstructed by trees as in the second image taken by Tim Purdy at GONG site at Big Bear Solar Observatory, California.

 

From a travel journal

For those who traveled to a recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society, here are some snapshots of murals in downtown of Anchorage. Some of these murals are visible from the main streets (like the first one, Denai'na mural by Crystal Worl, across the street from the convention center). Other are hidden in the back-alleys (second photo showing walruses by Richard Zeigler - Ziggy). Third photo shows Ziggy working on his new project - in memory of  people who  died on streets of Anchorage from freezing cold. He is an interesting character. The last photo shows the Alaska’s Marine Life Mural by Robert  Wyland, who created 100+ murals around the world showing whales.

"Nature India" highlights recent finding based on GONG data

 

Nature India, a digital magazine providing information on India’s science, highlighted the recent findings by Indian scientists in collaboration with the National Solar Observatory (NSO) about the effect of the Coriolis force on flows around sunspots, and how these flows shape the Sun’s rotation beneath the visible solar surface. The findings were made possible by the long-term of observations from the NSF's Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG).

GONG data-based time-lapse videos of solar activity cycle

John Boyd, an amateur astronomer and a retired Mathematician who used to work in the space program for NASA has recently created a time-lapse video spanning from 2020 to 2024  using the H-alpha Gong images. The videos, which are available via John's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Ha656nm,  are intended for the outreach for local astronomy club (the Santa Barbara Astronomical Units, SBAU) and educational purposes.

Did this filament eruption cause the CME?

Coronal mass ejection, which erupted from the Sun on 15 June 2025 near the Northern pole (marked by the white arrows in LASCO C2 and C3 coronargaph images, the middle and right panels) does not seem to have a clear source region. M8.5-class flare associated with active region 14114 (bright area East/left of central meridian in the left panel) occurred much later. It was, however, a small filament (marked by a white arrow in the left panel), which slowly rose and eventually erupted. Was this filament a possible source of this CME?  Watch the videos and judge for yourself. Also, note the time - filament disappeared at 3:45 UT. At about 3:10 UT, two small bright ribbons started developing near filament's south end. Similar flare ribbons albeit much larger is size are typical for so called two-ribbon flares indicating an energy release at the reconnecton site above the magnetic field neutral line. Filaments overlay the neutral lines of large-scale magnetic field. The first indication of the CME in LASCO C2 coronagraph can be noticed at 4:12 UT. LASCO imagery provided courtesy of NASA and ESA.

GONG/LE interruption

Early this week (7- 9 June), GONG/LE observations were interrupted by a damage to the camera trigger cable.  The root-cause was identified by the NISP engineering team via remote troubleshooting, and while the cable cannot be repaired, the solution was found to restore the operations. During the troubleshooting, the H-alpha observations may show a rapid image rotation. The observations are back to normal starting 11 June, 2025.

Single-site synoptic maps

In addition to network merged synoptic maps, NISP Data center now creates single-site synoptic maps. These maps are used to monitor the magnetogram data products as derived using newly deployed EVT cameras and to evaluate the impact of merging data taken with two different type of cameras into a network-merged data products. Two images provide the examples of single-site (GONG/LE, top) and network-merged (bottom) synoptic maps for Carrington rotation (CR) 2296 recently created by Thomas Wentzel. Two maps are nearly identical, which indicates a  good level of uniformity of observations taken at different sites.

Special session on "Three Decades of Helioseismology and Magnetic Field Observations with GONG: Discoveries, Modern Studies, and Future Plans"

The 246th AAS meeting (joint with the Laboratory Astrophysics and Solar Physics Divisions) took place the of week 8-12 June 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska. A special session dedicated to GONG 30 years of operations explored the significant contributions of GONG to helioseismology and solar magnetic field studies, and discussed the future of synoptic observations in these fields beyond GONG and HMI. Photos from that session show (top to bottom): Sarbani Basu (Yale University) summarizing "Three decades of helioseismology with GONG", Sushanta Tripathy (NSO), presenting results of comparative analysis of subsurface flows from GONG and HMI, Lekshmi Biji (NSO) discussing high-latitude torsional oscillations, and the participants of this session with  Irina Kitiashvili (NASA Ames) asking questions.  

Our dynamic Sun

 

Solar atmosphere constantly changes. The changes could be large as during the last week M-class flare, or they could be relative small. Watch filament near the North polar region (upper part of image) slowly rising and then erupting. LASCO coronagraphs do not seem to show a clear signature of a CME eruption associated with this partial filament eruption.

Observations at GONG/TD are impacted by Calima.

Observations from GONG/TD (Canary Islands) are impacted by Calima. This may appear as a slight blurring of H-alpha and other images. Calima is a meteorological phenomenon, when the prevailing winds blow dust from the Sahara desert towards the Canary Islands and farther in the Atlantic Ocean. Images from the NOAA's GOES 19 satellite taken on 24 May 2025 show the dust tail extending from the West cost of Africa all the way to North America. Calima usually happens in Summer, and each episode may last 3-5 days.

GONG/TD camera deployment is completed

 NISP engineering team had completed the camera deployment/preventive maintenance (PM) trip. The PM flag was turned off, and the system was set to perform a set of calibrations and restart normal operations. Examples of observations taken with new EVT camera (left to right): line-of-sight magnetogram with black/white corresponding to negative/positive polarity magnetic field, broadband/continuum image showing sunspots, and image of solar chromosphere as observed in hydrogen H-alpha spectral line.

Congratulations to the team! 

Large solar flare and Earth-directed CME

 

GONG/Learmonth (Australia) took observations of a large two-ribbon flare, which was the source of Earth-directed halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). M8.2 class flare started at about 23:31 UT on 30 May 2025 near active region  14100. Left panel shows the flare location at about the maximum of its development as observed by GONG. Two panels on the right show the location of bright CME front as observed by LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center issued G4 (Severe) Geomagnetic Storm Watch in Effect for 2 June UTC-Day.

Video shows the full development of H-alpha flare from GONG/LE observations.

GONG data processing update

Release of the network-merged daily velocity and magnetogram images, p-mode-coefficient time series, and mode parameters and flow measurements from ring-diagram technique for GONG month 303, and the p-mode frequency data products for central GONG month 302 may be delayed beyond the usual estimate due to summer staffing schedule.

GONG/TD camera deployment and maintenance

NISP engineering team is completing EVT camera deployment and the preventive maintenance activities at GONG/Teide station in Tenerife, Canary Islands. The team also inspected and cleaned H-alpha filter optics. Both field lenses had copious amounts of oil deposits. The lenses were cleaned which drastically improved the TD image, no more bright sky around the solar image, prominences are more easily seen now (see H-alpha images before/left and after/right its cleaning). 

NSO-CU crew were on site this week filming the work of the engineering team and interviewing IAC/Teide Observatory staff in preparation for 30th anniversary of GONG operations public outreach events.

NISP data center and scientific staff are preparing to start data vetting and camera acceptance activities once GONG/TD is back in operations.

Filament on the disk ... prominence at the limb...

 Chromospheric filaments, dark elongated features observed on solar disk in spectral lines such as H-alpha hydrogen line, become bright prominences, when viewed off the solar limb. Here an example of a filament turning prominence as observed by GONG station at Learmonth, Australia. Upper panel shows full disk images taken with H-alpha over several days. Low panels are a magnified view of a corresponding portion of solar disk.

X-class flare as observed by GONG

 On 25 May 2025 at 1:46 UT, active region 14098 produced a major, X1.1 class flare. The flare was observed in spectral line H-alpha by GONG station at Big Bear, California. Left panel shows full disk image of the Sun at beginning of flare. White box marks approximate location of flaring active region. Middle panels show enlarged areas of this region during the first three minutes of flare. Panels on the right are images from LASCO C2 coronagraph showing a propagation of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) associated with this flare. The CME first appears in LASCO C2 observations at 02:24 UT or 38 minutes after the flare first observed by GONG.

Are we ready for the worst space weather?

This recent article discusses our preparedness for a catastrophic space weather even: https://www.space.com/astronomy/sun/we-dont-know-how-bad-it-could-get-are-we-ready-for-the-worst-space-weather In the context of  current and future missions, it mentions GONG: "Some of our most dependable tools for tracking the sun are already hard at work. One of these is the Global Oscillation Network Group, or GONG."

 

 

GONG/TD - Refurbishment & PM Team On Site

 The team has arrived at the IAC's Observatorio del Teide! They will be installing the new camera and taking care of their regular preventative maintenance activities over the next 2 weeks. Guest appearances from Dr. Frank Hill and Jesús Patrón Recio.

NISP Engineering team is at Tenerife.

 NISP engineering team is at Tenerife, Canary Islands. They began the preventive maintenance/camera deployment. Some photos of the station were taken at that time.

 

GONG Hα Filter Repair Update

 An update on the repair of four of GONG's filters was received from Daystar Filters on May 19th.

The company owner, Jen Winter writes:

" I have good news to report.  We have completed all of the lab work on all four of your filters in now for service. We ultimately had to build a new optical workstation which includes a Shack-Hartmann test rail at the actual optical production bench for interactive feedback during each layer of the optical rebuild process.  This gives us rapid iteration of technique variation, which revealed processes which correct the optical figure within the filter. The filters are all optical figure, wavelength and CWL-uniformity tuned. However, we haven't had them out for live sun testing as we always do just as one last sanity check."

 The image on the left is a degraded Hα image from Learmonth. This filter was removed from service on 8/31/22 and is one of the four filters being repaired.

The filters should be back in Boulder by the end of May. They will undergo a lab inspection and then testing at the Boulder engineering shelter "TE".

 

Update on GONG/TD painting

The turret was painted this afternoon (May 14). 

The new GONG Turret Windows are here!

 Five new windows arrived this week from Asahi Spectra.

 The windows will be tested at the Boulder "TE" GONG after we've wrapped up the LCVR and UV Blocker tests. The test coupons for the two witness samples (AR Coating & Bandpass Coating) will be shipped to the DKIST optical lab in Maui for testing.

GONG P-modes

The peakfind results for GONG Month 302 show that the frequency shifts have started to decrease indicating that the solar maximum has already passed.  

GONG data processing update

Processing has been completed for p-mode coefficient time-series and rings data products for GONG month 302, and the p-mode frequency data products for central GONG month 301. The results will go through the final quality control before releasing it to the public. 

Naked-eye sunspot continues traversing solar disk

As predicted by GONG far-side imaging, the active region has crossed the solar limb on April 28! The leading sunspot is large—visible to the naked eye with proper solar filters. So far, the region produced two M-class flares, and a number of C-class flares.

Evolution of  this region over last few days can be seeing at https://testbed.swpc.noaa.gov/products/gong-imagery

Far-Side Solar Active Regions: A New Data Set for Enhanced Space Weather Forecasting

 A novel approach to studying the far-side solar active regions by NSO/NISP early career scientist, Amr Hamada was featured in the latest issue of SCOSTEP/PRESTO Newsletter (vol. 43, April 2025). GONG data were used for this study, which also includes the application of machine learning (ML) in heliophysics.

Painting of GONG/TD shelter

 GONG/TD (Tenerife) shelter was repaired and painted on 22-23 April, 2025. The turret will be painted later.

 

Charting the Sun’s Subsurface Weather Tied to Its 11-Year Activity Cycle

Recent Press Release of the Ministry of Science & Technology of India highlights the use of GONG data in a recent study by an international team of scientists:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2125195

Update about the road access to Mauna Loa Observatory (GONG/ML site)

Here is the road timeline (as of 28-Mar-2025):
1.  RFP released from DOT to the 2 down-selected and qualified vendors: Mid-April
2.  Bids back from 2 vendors (30-day deadline): Mid-May
3.  DOT proposal review and contract award (6 weeks internal at DOT): July 1st
4.  Period of performance (90 days) for road construction: July 1 to Oct 1 

Camera Deployment

Next EVT camera deployment is planned for 19 May - 2 June 2025. Location - Teide Observatory, Tenerife. So far, camera were deployed at 4 GONG sites: GONG/BB, GONG/LE, GONG/CT, and GONG/UD.