This morning, while photographing the Sun through my telescope, I observed a fairly large sunspot region. I had not seen anything like this before.
After recording a video, I looked up more information about it. Here are some of the details I learned.
The region is designated Active Region 4366 (AR 4366). This region is growing rapidly and was not even identified by the end of last week. Its growth rate is estimated to be approaching ten times the diameter of the Earth.
AR 4366 is developing a highly complex beta-gamma-delta magnetic configuration. At least 21 visible sunspots can be seen within this region, located at a heliographic latitude of approximately N14°. The region is considered extremely active.
Due to this activity, very high levels of ultraviolet radiation are being emitted into Earth’s upper atmosphere. As a result, shortwave radio communications may be disrupted over parts of the South Atlantic Ocean.
In short, sunspot region 4366 is a short-lived, rapidly growing, magnetically unstable sunspot group and is currently one of the most active solar regions.
The video was recorded using a homemade telescope with a 62 mm aperture and 700 mm focal length, along with a modified smartphone image sensor. No solar filter was used during the recording.
I would appreciate any feedback or thoughts on this observation.
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