Heads up - 16th

[george7378]

There is a new sunspot in the active region to the edge of the Sun. Can anyone else confirm?

[brianb]

I recorded a blank disc in white light (at 0925 UT) but my seeing was rotten.

[george7378]

I took another look at 12:30GMT, and I have been watching for half an hour, and it seems to have dissolved (if it was ever there). It's been great to watch the actvie region change.

[george7378]

I've had another look, and there are some tiny fledgling sunspots in the active region - I'd recommend a look if you can.

[brianb]

It's not unusual for areas of magnetic activity to have tiny "pores" coming and going. I imaged one yesterday.

My Ha and CaK images of the area (shown in my "Solar (in)activity 16 Jun" thread) do not give me confidence that a "normal" active area is growing ... there is usually a characteristic "bar magnet" appearance to the region in Ha when a spot group is developing, and in CaK the bright plage area is compact & tends to have exceptionally bright points embedded. I'm afraid that the NE area activity - in two parts - gives me the impression of decaying rather than developing activity. Going back over old observations, the part which is nearer the meridian is in fact the remains of a very active area - AR 11057 - which was at its height 3 revolutions ago. The part nearer the limb appears to be the remains of AR 11074 which appeared just before this part of the Sun rotated out of view and was at its peak whilst round the back.

Keep up the good work, something much more interesting will happen sooner or later!

[george7378]

Right - I had no idea that the active regions lasted that long! I will keep that in mind. Your daily updates are uesful for determining overall activity before going out.

I'll keep my eye on it - even if we don't get any large spots, it is interesting to see these tiny ones come and go, knowing that you are among the few who chanced upon them.

I've got the whole Summer holidays ahead (as of the 25th of June) to watch the Sun, so I'll keep my eye on it!