View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Victor C. Rogus in Sedona, Arizona, captured this photo of the sunspots as they travel across the surface of the sun on November 7, 2020. He wrote, giving some important advice for sun photography: “With mostly cloudy skies predicted within the hour I put my itsy bitsy 66mm refractor to work on the sun to photograph enormous sun spot AR 2781 as it traverses the solar disk. Sunspot AR2781 poses a threat for C-class solar flares. AR 2781 is so big people have reported seeing at sunset through thin clouds and haze with unfiltered optics! But please note, even when the sun is dimmed by low-hanging clouds or haze, it can still be dangerously bright, especially when magnified by unfiltered optics. If you choose to photograph the low sun, use the camera’s LCD screen for safe view finding. Never look at the sun through the eyepiece of an unfiltered camera. NEVER!” Thank you, Victor!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Radu Anghel in Bacau, Romania, wrote, “Sun and the active region 2781 on November 6, 2020.” This giant sunspot region – labeled AR 2781 – has been making its way across the visible surface of the sun in recent days. The sun’s new 11-year cycle of activity (Cycle 25) has just started, after being at a low ebb in recent years. Expect sunspots to become more common in the years ahead. Read more about Cycle 25.View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Aurelian Neacsu in Visina, Dambovita, Romania, wrote on November 6: “The sun today. Some new spots can be seen on its surface, a sign that it is increasingly active. Photo taken through solar filter telescope.” Thank you, Aurelian!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Victor C. Rogus in Sedona, Arizona, captured this close-up of AR 2781 on November 5, 2020. Thank you, Victor!
Bottom line: Photos from the EarthSky community of an active region on the sun – a giant sunspot region – known as AR 2781. It was making its way across the sun’s visible surface last week, but will soon rotate out of view, moving to the back side of the sun.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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