Sunspots.... 

NOTE: Viewing the sun can be dangerous if not done correctly. More on solar viewing safety coming soon. 

I had my first chance to observe sunspot 720 on January 11th. Clouds quickly moved in. This picture shows the haze that moved in, which actually made of a cool effect. January 14th the sunspot was spectacular. My 8" SkyQuest gave me so much detail! Late at night, I read that a X2 flare is headed this way.          January 17th

January 12th we had clouds. On the 13th I was able to observe and capture this picture. January 16th at 6am Central time, spacew.com says that the X2 flare will be here in 12 hours with bringing with it an aurora watch for lower latitudes. OH yeah!!!! Let the games begin:) The sunspot is as big as Jupiter and easy to see with the unaided eye through a special filter.

Images taken with an 8"Dobsonian, Steadypix, and canon powershotA75.