Want to see the sunspots that sparked today's severe geomagnetic storm?

[Mousetoescamper]

I took the photo at 12:40 today. The large spotty area at center/right is sunspot AR3615; the spot above it and to the right is AR3614. The two sunspots exploded in tandem yesterday, directing an X-class solar flare at Earth which sparked today's severe geomagnetic storm. X-class flares can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. And off to the Greatest Page, my dear Mousetoescamper!

This is a superb photo, one that I greatly admire!

Well done.

[Mousetoescamper]

3. Thanks! A $30 glass filter helped in the production of this photo.

[TeamProg]

38. Excellent pic! Is that a 16 stop ND filter or greater? Thanks nt

[Mousetoescamper]

39. Thanks! I used a 16.5 stop ND filter. Posting today's sunspot pic soon.

[ret5hd]

2. why can't i see them when i look at the sun?

signed,
Eric Trump

[Mousetoescamper]

5. But, mama, that's where the fun is!

Mama might've tried. Daddy always lied.

[marble falls]

4. It was crazy. The photon drives modules are still not responding to the bridge. Scotty says he's a mechanic ...

... not a miracle maker, he won't be held responsible.

[Mousetoescamper]

6. Is it any wonder that Klingons say the USS Enterprise is designed like a garbage scow?

Of course, they don't mean to say that the Enterprise should be hauling garbage, but that it should be hauled away as garbage.

[marble falls]

11. Crazy, again. The Enterprise is shaped exactly to fit the interior of a Klingon scow compartment. Did not know that.

[Qutzupalotl]

15. *throws first punch*

[HAB911]

7. Wow, this thread spun out of control real fast

Great photos!

[Mousetoescamper]

9. That goofy smiley on the face of the sun strikes the funny bone in some

Thanks!

[calimary]

23. OMG - now that I look at it again, I see it!

You're right. It IS a goofy smiley on the face of the sun. Kinda off-center. Maybe the sun had a sheepish rendezvous with a passing comet and got found out?

[marble falls]

12. It's Sunday. We've cracked beers and lit dubies - I mean doobies.

[AllaN01Bear]

8. wow. can you grasp that one of those sunspots is bigger than the earth?

[Mousetoescamper]

10. And our sun is average sized among the known stars.

I took a shot of Betelgeuse last night. It's about 700 times bigger than our sun.

[marble falls]

13. So I imagine it was easier to find.

[Mousetoescamper]

16. Yes. That's why I did it at night. Riddle me this:

What do Captain Kirk and toilet paper have in common?

[marble falls]

19. both basically hydro-carbon?

[Mousetoescamper]

30. Calimary's answered the riddle, below.

[calimary]

25. They both circle Uranus looking for Klingons!

I LOVE that joke!

[Mousetoescamper]

27. I think we went to different schools together

I first heard it back in the '70s.

[calimary]

28. Undoubtedly! That's about when I heard it, too!

[GiqueCee]

14. Hmmm...

... I thought I felt something.

[Mousetoescamper]

20. I thought I felt the Earth move under my feet and the sky tumbling down

[GiqueCee]

22. Kudos to Carol King!

[Grumpy Old Guy]

17. Wow!

Nicely done!

Did you use a solar eclipse filter?

[Mousetoescamper]

24. Thanks!

Yes. I ordered it to use on April 8 and have been having fun with it since it arrived last Thursday.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

40. I bought one for the last eclipse.

They're a lot of fun.

[surfered]

18. Great photo and coincidentally..

.,.looks like the one my doctor gave me after my colonoscopy 😁

[Mousetoescamper]

29. Thanks!

Did you sue for malpractice?

[surfered]

32. Your photo was better 🙏

[FirstLight]

21. That sure is a spotty sun!

Wow.

[calimary]

26. Maybe it just started "that time of the month" on a celestial timeframe?

But all joking aside, it IS a really remarkable photo.

[Mousetoescamper]

31. Doctor says it'll clear up with some tetracycline and Fostex

[LastDemocratInSC]

33. AR3615 at the center right has 54 sunspots.

All the other regions have from 2 to 5 spots. A literal hot mess!

Some communications disturbance is likely beginning anytime from late Sunday 24th to early Monday 25th EST.

[Mousetoescamper]

35. Interesting. I've seen the grouping designated as Sunspot AR3615

I was hoping we might see an aurora here in South Central PA but it doesn't look likely tonight.

[Pluvious]

34. From KTLA

Fantastic picture btw, thanks for sharing !

( Not a good time to be at The Space Station !! )

Link to tweet

[Mousetoescamper]

36. Thanks and you're welcome!

And thanks for the link as well. I was hoping we might see an aurora here in South Central PA, but it doesn't look likely tonight.

[William Seger]

37. The pic I took yesterday must have been right after the flareup

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1036129000

I took some pics today, but they weren't very good because of scattered light clouds. However, I got good enough images to compare the spots to yesterday, and it occurred to me that I could use them to estimate the sun's rotational period. I took the pixel width of the sun along the line the spots traveled as a diameter to estimate a circumference. I then measured the pixel distance the spots traveled and added 1/365th of the circumference to account for the Earth's movement in its orbit, then divided that into the presumed circumference. I got about 27 days. I then looked up the actual answer, and it turns out that since the sun is a ball of gas, the gas at the equator rotates faster than the gas near the poles. At the equator, it's 25 days, tapering off to over 30 days near the poles. The big spots appear to be somewhat south of the equator (we're seeing more of the south pole this time of year), so I'm pretty happy with my estimate.