Sun

Chrissy Fimiani takes a photo of Roger West, Mary Lou West, John Miksits and Phil Fimiani.  We were at the beginning of the solar system walk, the sun, at the NJ Botanical Gardens.  Our final destination along the walk was Saturn.  Saturn was quite a distance from this point. 

This photo of all of us was taken by Maja Britton. 

A surprise in the upper atmoshere of the Earth
 
Another way of heating the earths atmosphere has been found... THis one is not due to the sun's heating of the earth by sunlight.
 
 

Looks like there's a nice sunspot group on the Sun -- some nice solar fireworks for the 4th of July! Biggest group I've seen in quite sometime. It is right on the meridian.

For scary speculation about the end of civilization in 2012, people usually turn to followers of cryptic Mayan prophecy, not scientists. But that’s exactly what a group of NASA-assembled researchers described in a chilling report issued earlier this year on the destructive potential of solar storms.

Sure now I have a solar telescope, a solar shield for my other telescope and the Sun is in the duldrums!!! The last one last 500 years!!!! (Maunder Minimum)   

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/11jul_solarcycleupdate.htm?list880574     

I dont have 500 years to spare !!!

Note a group of small sunspots have just come onto the disk. They're not visible to the naked eye but might be nice with a white light or H-alpha filter.