Sunspot Maximum
September 23rd, 2024 | by sbieger |On August 23, 2024, the count of sunspots on our Sun reached a 20 year high, during the peak in solar cycle 23. The Space Weather web site highlighted this phenomenon with images of the Sun. If you look at the Daily Sun area in the left hand margin, you can get a large image of the sun with the active regions (AR) labeled. You can also get a “Carrington” map that compares the current view to the event of the same name.
I was also able to get some good shots that day from my front yard using my cell phone clamped on a white-filtered 80mm refactor. Active regions 3790, 3792 and 3799 were “just plain huge” (that’s a technical term for ‘larger than the Earth’). Truly remarkable even if not quite as big (fortunately) as Carrington but nevertheless a remarkable day in the life of our Sun … not to mention that I actually got a decent astro-photo that was in focus!!
Published Sep 23, 2024
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