For the first time in years we have a sunspot group that is visible to the (shielded) naked eye. AR1339 is 3 times wider than the Earth and a whopping 10 times longer. See attached photo taken in Galway on Saturday afternoon. No aurora warnings as of yet but the NOAA are estimating a 70% chance of M Class solar flares and 10% of an X class event.
Image after the break - note the size of the Earth in comparison to the group!
Another big flare and associated CME caught by the SDO last Thursday.
"Just as an active region rotated into view, it unleashed a large (X1.4 class) solar flare (Sept. 22, 2011) as well as several smaller flares and a significant coronal mass ejection. Predictions are that the storm will likely not impact Earth. Following the bright flare, one can see brilliant coils of magnetic field lines regrouping themselves. Images were taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in extreme ultraviolet light."
Large solar prom from the 23rd March 2011. My first time taking the wee 40mm PST out in ages so seeing proms this large was a nice surprise.
For my sins I used the Astrotrak and it took AGES to get everything aligned perfectly; the image was taken at f25 so every slight movement caused a large jump at the viewfinder. Next time I'll use the asgt when imaging, just for sanity's sake. Still it's impressive that the wee astrotrak could do this and it is still great for visual solar observing.
About 1300 frames in registax and then processed in PS.
PST with mono toucam on an Astrotrak tt320x.
Think this is big though. Have a look at shots from the 20th on Spaceweather here.