Blemishes

I took this picture yesterday morning about 10:00 A.M.  (Yes, I should have been at work!)  There are two regions of sunspots that are obvious.  One is on the limb of the sun, the other is more centrally located.  Lately, the sun has been relatively quiet.  That is changing, however.  More and more spots are appearing. And, with those spots come solar flares.  Solar flares can be very disruptive to our lives.  They can interfere with communication.  But, with the bad comes the good.  Solar flares also produce auroras - the northern lights. 

Sunspots are hot, but not as hot as the surrounding sun.  If they were on the earth, they would be brighter than a welder's arc.  But, because they are on the sun, they appear dark.  If they were separated from the sun and hung in space, they would appear bright. Context matters.

Don't go look at the sun with the hope of seeing the spots.  That will make YOU see spots, perhaps permanently.  I took the pictures using this telescope and a special sun filter.  The camera was a Nikon D40 that was hooked directly to the telescope by removing the camera lens and using a "T-Ring".  The telescope, in essence, became the camera lens.  More spots are developing and I hope to make some more pictures soon.