SUBSIDING SUNSPOT: Sunspot 1024 is experiencing some decay and solar flare activity is subsiding. Nevertheless, by recent standards it is still a behemoth. The dark cores in this July 6th photo from Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana, are each about the size of Earth:
Photo details: Coronado SM90 solar filter, Televue 102iis refractor,
"The clouds parted and gave me a clear shot of this sunspot," says Borman. "It is a beauty."
The magnetic polarity of sunspot 1024 identifies it as a member of Solar Cycle 24, the long-awaited next solar cycle. New research shows that solar jet streams are beginning to stimulate new-cycle sunspot production. Sunspot 1024 appears to be a sign of the process at work, heralding more to come. Monitoring is encouraged.
more images: from Stefano Sello of Pisa, Italy; from Therese van Nieuwenhoven of Laukvik, Lofoten islands, Norway; from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from T. Emerson and J. Stetson of South Portland, Maine; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Britta Suhre of Dortmund, Germany; from Deirdre Kelleghan of Bray, Co Wicklow Ireland; from Roman Vanur of Nitra, Slovakia; from Ehsan Rostamizadeh of Kerman, Iran; from Leslie Marczi of Welland, Ontario, Canada; from Rolando De Michiel of Bonnet Bay, Sydney, Australia
