Sunspot 1029 has become the most active sunspot of 2009

BIG SUNSPOT: By unleashing six C-class solar flares in the past 48 hours, sunspot 1029 has become the most active sunspot of the year so far. This morning, Paul Haese photographed the maelstrom from his backyard observatory in Blackwood, South Australia:

"It's a fantastic beauty," he says. "I took the picture using my Coronado SolarMax60 and a Lumenera Skynyx 2-0 digital camera."

The sunspot is growing rapidly (movie), making it an expanding target for backyard solar telescopes. If you have one, take a look!

sunspot images: from Marco Vidovic of Stojnci, Slovenia; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Gianluca Valentini of Rimini, Italy; from Michael Buxton of Ocean Beach, California; from Emiel Veldhuis of Zwolle, the Netherlands; from Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany; from Steve Rismiller of Milford, Ohio; from Fabio Mariuzza of Biauzzo, Italy; from Bruno Nolf of Otegem, Belgium; from Brian Colville of Maple Ridge Observatory - Cambray, ON


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