Mother’s Day: AR1476 and her “children”

Photo: Sunspots on May 13, 2012. Photo by James Guilford.
AR1476 and her “children” on the face of the Sun. Photo by James Guilford.

Sunday, May 13 dawned reasonably clear and so, with cloudy skies anticipated, a few rushed observations were made of our Sun. AR1476 continues to dominate the solar disk through it has been joined by several smaller but notable sunspots. A CME was Earthbound and expected within a few hours with minimal effects expected. Also visible in this photo are granulation and other disturbances in the solar atmosphere. The photo above was made by CAA member James Guilford: Canon EOS 50D: ISO 400, f/8, 1/1,250 sec., 400mm, AstroZap white light film solar filter, May 13, 2012 at 9:15 AM.