We had such a beautiful clear day here today, so I raced home and spent most of the day imaging our Sun with my different cameras and telescopes to capture these two big sunspots.
 
Active region AR2740 has now split up which can be seen quite clearly and the new sunspot AR2741 has a very dark umbra and a large penumbra area surrounding it.
It looks like this one is going to be quite an active sunspot too!
 
These images were taken with my 127mm refractor telescope with a glass solar filter attached using a Canon 700D camera. The first image was taken with a ZWO ASI 120MC-S camera with a 2x Barlow lens.

After so long with no activity on the surface of the Sun we now have a huge active sunspot designated AR2740 which is the twice the size of Earth.  I set up both my telescopes this afternoon and finally the clouds cleared long enough to take some images. I had to be quick because clouds were rolling across the sky!
 
For the full disc of the Sun I used a Meade 80mm refractor telescope with a solar filter attached and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens, the exposure time was 1/320th second and ISO 200. For the high magnification image I used a ZWO ASI 120MC-S camera with a 2x Barlow lens, 2000 frame AVI file stacked in RegiStax6.

Information from Spaceweather.com on the 6th May 2019
 
ACTIVE SUNSPOT: Big sunspot AR2740 is turning toward Earth and crackling with solar flares. The most intense so far registered M1 on the Richter Scale of Solar Flares.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash on May 6th.
http://www.spaceweather.com
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov
https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov

​Sunspot AR2733 is now degrading after it unleashed a C5 class solar flare on the 26th January, it’s now heading toward the western limb of the Sun. Perhaps we may see a lovely prominence on the solar edge as it rotates out of view…now that would be nice to see if the weather is fine :-)
 
Images taken with a 127mm refractor telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2X Barlow lens attached, 5 images stacked in RegiStak6 and processed in PS CS4. Exposures were 1/250th second and ISO200.

(Right) I used my 127mm refractor with an Orion glass solar filter attached for safe viewing and taking pictures of the solar surface.
 
(DANGER…NEVER look at the Sun without proper solar filters on your camera lenses and telescopes)
 
Please see below a small movie of the explosion from AR2733 taken on the 26th January from
NASA’s SDO observatory.

​I had another peek at the Sun late yesterday afternoon and Yep…it’s spotless again! 
​
When I turned around and looked up to the east I spotted a lovely gibbous Moon in a clear blue sky,
​which looked very pretty :-)
 
Both images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens with a 2x telecoverter making a focal length of 1280mm.

A glass solar filter was attached to the lens for safe viewing and imaging of the Sun.

Yay! There’s a new sunspot on the Sun today for the New Year and it’s been designated AR2732, it’s quite small and faint but it may turn into something exciting for us solar observers :-)
 
Images taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm with a 2x teleconverter, a glass solar filter was attached to the lens for safe viewing and imaging of the solar surface. 10 images were stacked in RegiStak6 and lightly processed in PS CS4…Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Day Sun Today :-)
Our beautiful Sun today on Christmas Day after weeks and weeks of rain and thunderstorms…Merry Christmas to all and happy holidays!
 
I just had to add a Santa hat to our very bland Sun for fun :-)
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens with a 2x teleconverter attached, a glass solar filter was fitted to the lens for safe viewing and imaging. Exposure time was 1/500th second and ISO200.

~ Current information on the Sun ~
 
The Sun is now experiencing a period of solar minimum with over 200 days this year without sunspots on its surface, gone are the days when so much activity could be see on the surface of the Sun…I really miss all the excitement!
 
The image (left and above) of the Sun that I took on Christmas Day is completely bland and spotless!
​
To safely take images of the solar surface you must always use a solar filter on the lens of your camera or telescope. I haven’t even used my Lunt 60mm (Ha) solar telescope much this year as the Sun has been very quite in this H-alpha wavelength as well.
 
But there has been another type of activity on the Sun that’s quite intriguing, and that is these corona holes that open up and expel subatomic solar particles throughout the solar system. They are not as powerful as a CME but they still produce some awesome aurora when they hit our atmosphere.
 
When these solar particles hit the oxygen and nitrogen in our Earths atmosphere they excite the gases and release a photon of light that produces the coloured curtains of light of the auroras.
 
It was one of these incredible episodes that produced the stunning northern lights  (Aurora Borealis) that my husband and I witnessed in March 2018 when we were on board the Hutigruten ship called the Nordkapp that cruised up and down the Norwegian coastline. Wow…what a magical experience that was!!!!

~ The Northern Lights in the Arctic Night ~
My aurora image won a David Malin award this year in the Nightscapes section. If you go to the link you will see my picture and all the other stunning astronomy images that won awards this year at: https://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/astrofest/awards/

Sunspots…Yay!
 
After so much time with a blank solar surface it’s exciting to see some detail on the Suns surface with this large active sunspot group :-)
 
My images were taken with a 127mm refractor telescope and a Canon 700D camera and a 2x barlow lens attached. A glass solar filter was fitted to the telescope lens for safe viewing and imaging of the Sun, 12 images were taken which were stacked in RegiStax6, the exposure times were 1/400th second and ISO400. 

I set up my solar gear late this afternoon just to see if there was anything happening on the solar surface in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength and to my surprise there on the solar limb was a faint prominence detaching away from the Sun.
 
It was exciting to see some activity after such a long time of inactivity  :-)
 
I also took an image with just my camera and long focal length lens to capture the Sun in the visible light.
 
The H-alpha image above was taken with a Lunt LS60mm solar telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached, I took two sets of images one for the solar disc and one set for the faint prominence and combined both images in PS.
​You have to do this because the faint prominence needs a longer exposure than the solar disc.
 
The ordinary image of the Sun below was taken with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm Tamron lens with a 2x converter set at 400mm making a focal length of 1280mm. A glass solar filter was also attached to the front of the lens for safe viewing and imaging of the Sun.

This is the first clear day in 2018 that I’ve been able to take a picture of the Sun, there are absolutely no markings on the solar surface and it’s very bland indeed, but how beautiful it becomes when it sets over the Scarborough Point Marina with the golden colours of sunset through the masts of the boats :-)
​
Both images were taken on the 7th January 2018 with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens, for the full solar disc image I added a 2x teleconverter and a glass solar filter to the front lens for safe imagining of the Sun.

Twas the day before Christmas and the Sun has a sprinkling of tiny sunspots on its surface that are quite faint,
I'm keeping an eye on them…
 
Merry Christmas everyone :-)
 
Image was taken with a Canon 70D camera with a Tamron 18-400mm lens and a 2x converter attached. The exposure time was 1/500th second and ISO200, a glass solar filter was fitted to the front of the lens for safe imaging of the Sun.