Two Equinox Sunspots
Written by Nancy Atkinson
Two sunspots appeared on old Sol yesterday just as Earth's orbit ushered in the Autumnal Equinox. Two sunspots showing up at once hasn't happened in more than a year, and over 80% of the days in 2009 have been "sunspotless" during this deepest solar minimum in a century. Spaceweather.com had a great picture, below, of the first sunspot that appeared, #1026, taken by astrophotographer Peter Lawrence. Lawrence said there was a lot going on around the new sunspot. "The spot's dark core is surrounded by active fibrils and a swirling magnetic filament that gives the region a nice 3D appearance."
Sunspot 1026. Credit: Peter Lawrence.
Check out Spaceweather.com for more (and new images) of the new sunspots.
Filed under: Solar Astronomy
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September 26th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I count THREE, two north and one south. Why?