More "fireworks" (solar flares) are coming?

Active region observed in GONG farside images and from the surface of Mars is now visible from Earth (see right panel showing GONG broadband image). This region is now assigned 14294 number. Based on image from the NASA's Perseverance Rover and GONG far side maps (white circles on the left and middle panels) the region rapidly developed on the side of Sun not visible from Earth.  A rapidly growing regions may exhibit a significant flare activity, and in fact, AR14294 already produced several moderate (C-class) and major (M-class) flares. So far, the largest flare was M5.9, when the region was crossing the East limb. Based on history of the region's development, it is expected to produce more flares. Other region marked by orange box on farside and the rover's images corresponds to decaying AR14274 from previous solar rotation. Based on the rover's image, the region has decayed significantly, and it may not exhibit a strong flare activity, when crossing to the visible solar hemisphere. Still, there were limb flares in the approximate location of that region too.

A Large Solar Active Region Seen on the Sun’s Far Side by Helioseismology and NASA’s Perseverance Rover

 Helioseismic mapping of the Sun’s far side has been instrumental in providing early warnings of medium to-large active regions before they rotate into Earth’s view. The most recent helioseismic map (left image), derived from NSF’s GONG observations, reveals several active regions on the far hemisphere, with the most prominent located in the southern hemisphere and highlighted by the white circle. This region is estimated to rotate onto the Earth-facing side on November 30. 

 A complementary perspective comes from Mars, which currently lies behind the Sun and will remain in that position for the next two months. NASA’s Perseverance Rover, part of the Mars 2020 mission, has also detected a large active region in the southern hemisphere of the Sun (white circle in the right image) 

The apparent locations of active regions in far side and direct imaging may appear different. This is because difference in image orientation and a viewing angle for Mars rover images. Some features that appear in far side images may have a low probability. Nonetheless, both methods consistently confirm the existence of a substantially large active region on the Sun’s far side at its precise location.

Image Credits: Left image: NSF/NSO/GONG; Right image: Spaceweather.com

Blank magnetograms from LE, UD, and BB

Starting 7 Nov. 2025, there were occasional blank magnetograms produced by some GONG network sites. So far, this had happened at least once at LE, UD, and BB. GONG duty responder identifies these instances and restarts the system, which corrects the issue. The root-cause of these events is under investigation.

 

Update: Mauna Loa Access Road

The Mauna Loa road construction contract has been awarded! The award notification has been posted on Sam.gov. A Notice to Proceed is pending. The construction period of performance has been set, January 1 to March 31, 2026. Once a construction schedule has been officially published, Hawaiian Electric will start work on their schedule for restoring utility power to the site.

This image, taken midday during a helicopter overflight of Mauna Loa's eruption on December 5, 2022, shows a lava flow branching after it cuts across the Mauna Loa Access Road. The large blocks in channel are called lava boats. These are termed lava balls or lava boats and form when portions of the fissure 3 cone or levees break away and are rafted down stream. As they move along in the channel, additional lava can cool to their surface to form accretionary lava balls. USGS image by L. Gallant.

GONG refurbishment project update

NISP Data Center, scientists, and engineers completed vetting eleventh GONG EVT (Emergent Vision Technologies) camera in frame of the GONG refurbishment project. Vetting of one more EVT camera is going to start soon, which will be the last new camera that the NISP group will need to evaluate.

One of the strongest flares of cycle 25 and aurora

Active regions 14274, 14272, and 14275 predicted  by GONG's farside imaging continue producing strong flares and CMEs. This enhanced solar activity also produces strong geomagnetic storms and aurora. Last  night (11 Nov 2025), the aurora was observed as far south as Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Photo shows aurora in Denver, Colorado. On 11 November 2025, AR14274 produced a very large solar flare of X5.1 class. More aurora displays to come! Video shows flare as observed in H-alpha by GONG station at Teide Observatory, Canary Islands, Spain.

 

Aurora and recurrent geomagnetic storm

Geomagnetic activity associated with long-lasting coronal hole on the Sun (see, our previous post at https://gongnisp.blogspot.com/2025/09/recurrent-geomagnetic-storms.html) seem to continue. Last night (7 November 2025), a moderate geomagnetic storm hit the Earth and produced some beautiful aurora. The geomagnetic activity associated with this long-lasting coronal hole is approximately marked by black ovals. Geomagnetic storm on previous night (also included to the last oval) is related to solar flare activity.
 

As expected, all three predicted active regions appeared and contributed to elevated solar activity on the front side

 

Over a week ago, GONG far-side helioseismic maps forecasted the rotation of three prominent active regions to the front side in early November 2025. These regions have now emerged, contributing to a marked increase in magnetic activity. They are clearly visible in the latest line-of-sight magnetogram from a GONG site (top image).  

After nearly two weeks of minimal activity, these regions produced two X-class and several high-energy M-class flares. It is noted that the X-class flares were observed after a gap of about four months. This flaring activity, along with associated CMEs, has also elevated the chances of auroral sightings on 6-7 November.

 In the accompanying illustration below, the top panel shows newly assigned active region numbers, while the bottom panel references their previous front-side identifications during far-side transit. 

The atmospheric blast wave associated with the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted on January 15, 2022. A blast wave from the eruption went around the globe. Each GONG station is equipped with a very sensitive barometer, which record barometric pressure every minute. A pulse in the atmospheric pressure associated with this wave was recorded by each station. Figure shows daily variations of the barometric pressure on 15 January 2022 at the GONG station at Big Bear Lake, California, USA. Red oval marks the passage of the blast wave. Records of the barometric pressure and temperature for all GONG network and engineering stations for 14-17 January 2022 are now available at DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17493218