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.
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