The spots are back!

Finally had an excuse today to drag out my Orion Short Tube 80mm scope and Baader solar filter, because the spots are back! I haven't been involved with amateur astronomy for too many years, so I haven't had the chance to observe a solar maximum. And the recently-finished minimum has been one of the quietest on record. Nevertheless, sunspot group 1024 has emerged (as seen at right in this MDI image from SOHO), and it's quite beautiful. Very convenient that this new group decided to emerge on a 3-day weekend, as well! Dodging cumulus, I managed to make this observation:

"At least 7 distinct spots visible in group 1024 at 30x, with the western-most spot being by far the largest. About 14 spots visible at 60x, tracing out an arc about 3' long. A lot of beautiful detail seen at 120x. I see a bright patch visible in the umbra of the large spot. Overall impression is that of the Hawaiian archipelago seen on a map."

If you have access to a safely solar-filtered telescope, get out there and take a look! Makes me want a PST...

Clear skies and great seeing!