EarthSun

Sun news: GONG filling solar observatory gap

The sun, seen as a large white sphere with dark spots, each labeled.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of 4 UTC on December 3, 2024, as seen from Udaipur Solar Observatory. Original image, without labels, via NSO/GONG. See required acknowledgment below. Today’s sun is posted by Armando Caussade. Why are east and west on the sun reversed?
Acknowledgment: This work utilizes data from the National Solar Observatory Integrated Synoptic Program, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation and with additional financial support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the United States Air Force. The GONG network of instruments is hosted by the Big Bear Solar Observatory, High Altitude Observatory, Learmonth Solar Observatory, Udaipur Solar Observatory, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory.

Sun news for December 2: GONG filling solar observatory gap

Today’s top story: It’s another day without data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will be unavailable until 2025. With activity on the sun currently low, it’s a good time to talk about sources of solar imagery that can fill in for SDO. Today, we’re using imagery from GONG, the Global Oscillations Network Group. GONG is a solar observing network that has been around for decades and is an integral part of the sun-observing infrastructure. It consists of six identical telescopes placed strategically across the world in order to monitor the sun 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The EarthSky sun team regularly uses GONG to determine if any active regions are developing on the far side of the sun. We use this in conjunction with the data usually provided by the SDO HMI instrument. GONG also provides images of the sun in H-alpha, an important wavelength for studying the mysterious chromosphere, our star’s lower atmosphere. There is a single space-based observatory that provides H-alpha views, the Hinode satellite, but it doesn’t provide full-sun images.
Last 24 hours: Over the past 24 hours, solar flare activity remained low with only C-class flares. The sun produced seven flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. This is almost half the number of the day before. The largest was a C5.5 flare at 16:22 UTC on December 1 from sunspot region AR3906. Three active regions are showing moderate flaring potential with beta-gamma magnetic complexities: AR3905, AR3906, and AR3912. Five sunspot regions are currently visible on the sun’s Earth-facing side.
Next 24 hours: The chance for C flares is 99%, the chance for M flares is 30%, and the chance for X flares is 5% today.
Next expected CME: No Earth-bound coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed in available coronagraph imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: As of 11 UTC on December 1, Earth’s magnetic field remains quiet. We expect geomagnetic activity to remain mostly quiet, with isolated unsettled intervals. The geomagnetic field may reach unsettled conditions later today due to potential minor influence from a coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun November 27. Any CME influence on December 2-3 brings the chance of an active spell and a slight chance of G1 (minor) geomagnetic storming. We expect mostly quiet conditions for December 3-4.

Sun news for December 1: Setback! SDO data unavailable until 2025

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which serves as the world’s source for observing and studying the sun, will be unavailable until 2025 due to unexpected infrastructure damage. Luckily, the spacecraft itself and its valuable data are secure. But the Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) at Stanford University in California – the facility responsible for processing and distributing SDO data – suffered extensive damage from severe flooding, caused by a broken pipe. This flooding compromised critical servers and equipment essential for processing and delivering the observational data that SDO collects, continuously. Although efforts are underway to access and recover the affected systems, the scale of the damage has significantly impacted JSOC’s ability to function, and the repairs and rebuilding process are expected to extend into early 2025. In the meantime, the global community of professional (and amateur) sun observers will need to rely heavily on alternative resources, such as GOES-SUVI and GONG. Additionally, contributions from the public and amateur astronomers will play a vital role in filling observational gaps. High-quality community-sourced photos of the sun, particularly those highlighting active regions or sunspots, can be instrumental in maintaining solar activity monitoring and analysis. This collective effort will ensure that despite the temporary loss of SDO’s processed data, the global scientific community can continue tracking solar phenomena, studying the sun’s behavior, and predicting space weather events that could impact Earth. Stay tuned for updates on SDO’s return!
Last 24 hours: Over the past 24 hours, solar flare activity has remained low, with only C-class flares. The sun produced 12 flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The most significant was a C3.7 flare at 23:23 UTC on November 30 from active region AR3906. The overall magnetic complexity of the regions has decreased. No regions contain a delta configuration with two beta-gamma regios, AR3906 and AR3912. Five sunspot regions are visible on the sun’s Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 1, 2024. Oh no! Images from NASA’s sun-observing Solar Dynamic Observatory are offline until 2025, due to a flood. We’re at the peak of the sun’s 11-year cycle. But the world’s knowledge of what’s happening on the sun’s surface is curtailed, for now. Image via SDO and AI with editing.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | EarthSky’s Raúl Cortés in Monterrey, Mexico – a co-author of our daily sun post – captured this image of yesterday’s sunspots. Images from amateur sun observers around the world – like this one, and the one from Patricio León in Chile, above – will be important between now and 2025, while images from NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory are offline.

The sun in recent days

Sun news for December 1-2, 2024. A visible image of the sun, observed by a GONG telescope at the Udaipur Solar Observatory midway between Delhi and Bombay in western India. Image via GONG.
The sun, seen as a large white sphere with small dark spots.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patricio León in Santiago, Chile, captured this filtered image of the sun on December 1, 2024. Labeling added by EarthSky. Patricio wrote: “Quite devastating the news about the damage in Stanford center. All we can do is hope for the best in terms of time out. The solar face doesn’t show major changes, neither are there new groups in sight.” Thank you, Patricio!
The sun, seen as a large white sphere with small dark spots.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patricio León in Santiago, Chile, captured this filtered image of the sun on November 30, 2024. Labeling added by EarthSky. Patricio wrote: “Nothing really new in the sun face; neither about damaged SDO servers.” Thank you, Patricio!

Sun images from our community

The sun, seen as a large white sphere with small dark spots.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patricio León in Santiago, Chile, captured this filtered image of the sun on December 2, 2024. Patricio wrote: “The sun keeps in standby mode: no flares, no CMEs, no big sunspots or even new sunspots. So, get in sun mood and wait for an awake, whatever it might be. Very clever the addition of GONG images, thanks.” Thank you, Patricio!
The sun, seen as three colored spheres, one yellow, one violet and one orange.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona, captured these filtered images of the sun on December 1, 2024. Eliot wrote: “With SDO down I was motivated to get my gear up and running to monitor sunspots. White light and sodium band [obyained with] Lunt wedge and Tak 120 mm or Sodium Center Andover Corp sodium pass filter and Lunt Wedge with Tak 120 mm. Calcium K line Lunt 80 mm and Lunt filter” Thank you, Eliot!
The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with a mottled surface.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jim Militello in Tucson, Arizona, captured this filtered image of the sun on December 1, 2024. Jim wrote: “This hydrogen alpha image of the sun is showing numerous filaments, active regions with sunspots, and prominence.” Thank you, Jim!
The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with a mottled surface.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured this filtered image on December 1, 2024. Mario wrote: “Hydrogen-alpha image of the sun with some nice filaments, and beautiful prominences on the east and southeast limb.” Thank you, Mario!
The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with small dark spots.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hawkes in Sheffield, United Kingdom, captured this filtered image of the sun on November 29, 2024. David wrote: “Active regions AR3905 and 3906 still preside over the solar disk but newcomers emerging in the east. Perhaps some more activity to come?” Thank you, David!

Are you a fan of sun images? We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. We love receiving them and sharing them! And to those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community page, thank you.

Submit photos here

View community photos here

Bottom Line: Sun news for December 2, 2024: With Solar Dynamics Observatory data unavailable until 2025, the GONG network is providing our view of the currently quiet sun.

Posted 
December 2, 2024
 in 
Earth

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