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A monster sunspot has appeared in Active Region 1944 this year. Here is a picture taken by Fred Espenak (Mr. Eclipse!): AR 1944 sunspots He says that it's actually made up of over five dozen individual sunspots, some of them bigger than the Earth. It's visible without binoculars, but make sure you use eye protection. Click for more information about observing the Sun

There should be some good aurorae too.

Last edited by Mona - Astronomy; 01/13/14 06:50 AM.
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The flare from AR1944 didn't cause the widespread geomagnetic activity that was expected. There were beautiful aurorae in the Arctic Circle, but the lights had faded by the time night fell in North America.

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Here's a picture of the Sun for January 14. Active Region 1944 is on the larger grouping on the right hand side. It's about to disappear from view as the Sun rotates.

Last edited by Mona - Astronomy; 01/13/14 10:27 AM.
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The active region AR 1944 has come back! It disappeared from sight as the Sun rotated on its axis and usually we'd expect the sunspot to disappear. However this area is still active and has already released flares. It's now designated AR 1967. When it gets to the center of the Sun's disk any flares will come straight towards us. Aurora watchers are very hopeful.

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On Saturday night February 1, the entire sky over Tromsø, Norway was filled with aurorae between 9pm and midnight. Here is a stop-motion video, covering a period of one hour , from a Japanese all-sky camera in Tromsø. (It may take a little while to load.)

This must have been simply breathtaking.

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Our active region has come around again for an amazing third time. A few days ago there was an enormous mass ejection from this region, the biggest of the current solar cycle. The result was that the Scandinavians and Icelanders didn't have all the fun. The United Kingdom got a night of beautiful aurorae last night, too - especially Scotland and Northern Ireland, but they were spotted farther south too. (Alas, city lights and cloudy skies don't make for viewing them from London.)

Here is a picture taken last night from County Tyrone (N. Ieland) showing an Aurora over an ancient stone circle


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