On the morning of March 6, 2012 we captured the very large sunspot 1429
(top) along with the much smaller 1430 (below). Sunspot AR1429 showed
itself on March 2 and produced an M3-class solar flare. M-class flares
are medium-sized and can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's
polar regions. Then on March 5, this sunspot produced an X1-class
solar flare. X-class flares are major events that can trigger
planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. This
region is continuing to grow as it moves across the Sun and on March 7
it produced an X5-class solar flare that was expected to reach our
planet on March 8 and could spark a strong-to-severe geomagnetic storm.
Telescope: Lunt Solar Systems LS60THa/B1200CPT
Accessories: LS50FHa Double-stack etalon; TeleVue 2.5x Powermate
Mount: Takahashi EM-200 Temma2
Camera: Imaging Source DMK31
Exposure: 32.20ms
Gain: 783
Length: 1:00 @ 30fps (each)
Acquisition: Fire Capture
Processing: Registax 6
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS5; ImagesPlus 4.5
Capture time: March 6, 2012, 10:20am
Capture conditions: ~61°F; transparency: Above avg 4/5; seeing: Above avg 4/5
Location: Hendersonville, TN, USA