The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming? (firstLight)

Contains: Solar system body or event

The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming?

The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming?

At first glance, the Sun now looks fairly uneventful in the visual spectrum. On the right (eastern) edge, the spots of the active regions AR3582 and AR3583, which have been exciting to observe recently, disappear and are embedded in very extensive and widely meandering flare areas.

To the left of the center of the image and significantly further north lies a lonely and beautiful AR3586Sunspot with a uniform, almost round shape, which is surrounded by a very beautiful penumbra. One might almost think that this is all that can be observed on the western side of the sun.

But stop! Look closely: Just below AR3586 and exactly at the left (western) edge of the Sun, a significantly larger spot with a very pronounced penumbra is already appearing, which is not yet assigned to an active region (AR). At this spot, with better resolution and higher magnification, one could probably observe or photograph the "Wilson effect" quite well in the next 1-2 days. This is an oblique top view that shows the transition from penumbra to umbra in three dimensions - definitely worth seeing!

I love the heaven -
and heaven loves me.

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The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

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The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming?

The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming?

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The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming?

The Sun on February 18, 2024 - is something bigger coming?

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