Category: Sun

Two more great images of our Sun on the 8th & 9th May 2022 by Simon Dawes and now up to Sunspot number AR3007.  

Sunspot AR3006 however is behaving a bit odd as described on Spaceweather.com  ''A MIXED-UP SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR3006 is having an identity crisis. It is supposed to have a +/- magnetic field. Mostly it does. But deep inside the sunspot's primary core, the polarity is opposite: -/+................The mixture of magnetic polarities makes this sunspot interesting and dangerous. When opposite polarities bump together, it can light the fuse of magnetic reconnection--the explosive power source of solar flares. If AR3006 flares today, it will be geoeffective. The sunspot is directly facing Earth.''

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

The Sun 8th May 2022

The Sun 9th May 2022

The latest image of the Sun taken by Simon Dawes. 

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

The Sun on the 30th April 2022 taken by Simon Dawes.  As you can see the Sun was still 'active' re sunspots on that day.

As of today (5th May) we are now up to AR3006 and in the past 24 hours sunspot AR3004 has produced over 18 solar flares (15+ C-class flares and 3 M-flares). 

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

The Sun on the 30th April 2022

Superb close up of Sunspots AR2993 & AR2994 captured by member Kevin Langford on the 24th April 2022 using ASI385mc, SW 130 Reflector on a SW Adventure tracker mount. Using SharpCap, Autostakkert 2 and PS.

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

More sunspots!!!!

Now up to AR2999 and counting as there is now a new very active region of sunspots appearing on the Sun as of today which have yet to be given an AR number. 

This new source of solar activity has so far been of C-class explosions which have in the past 24 hours hurled at least two CMEs into space. We (Earth) are not yet in the line of fire but as the active region rotates toward facing our planet things could change......

Simon Dawes captured these 2 white light image of the Sun on the 24th & 26th April 2022.

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

The Sun on the 24th April 2022

The Sun on the 26th April 2022

And they keep coming.........more sunspots appearing on the Sun as captured by Simon Dawes on the 23rd April 2022.  Now up to sunspot AR 2996 on Simon's image below but as of 24th April - sunspot AR 2997 has put in an appearance.

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely.

Nice to see some sunspots on the Sun and there are quite a few visible at the moment as Simon Dawes shows in his recent images taken of the Sun on the 20th & 21st April 2022.  NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely. 

Sunspot complex AR2993-94 is crackling away with M-class solar flares and did directly face Earth a day later. They are 'big' sunspots too.  The two dark cores are as large as Earth and a magnetic filament attached to one of the cores is more than 100,000 km long.

Sun on 20th April 2022

Sun on 21st April 2022

Sunspots are caused by magnetic disruptions of the visible photosphere of the sun which exposes the relatively cooler layers underneath - appearing as a black spot. 

The sun’s magnetic entanglements and disentanglement happen in 11-year cycles with each solar cycle having phases of low and high activity. Solar activity cycles have been numbered since 1775, when extensive recording of sunspot activity began.

We are currently in Solar Cycle 25, which has yet to reach its peak. The current cycle is expected to reach its maximum activity in late 2024 or early 2025, this means we may see more and bigger sunspots.

A superb image of an 'active' Sun by Simon Dawes taken from Bexleyheath. Details of how Simon took the photo are on the image.

A lovely image of the Sun showing 3 sunspots taken by Simon Dawes on the morning of the 25th March 2022 from Bexleyheath. Details of how Simon acquired the image is on the photo.

Another great image of the Sun by Simon Dawes taken today from Bexleyheath. Details of how the image was acquired is written on the photo. Three sunspot groups are visible.