Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 12 years and 1 month old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

March has been a good telescope month so far. The past few evenings have seen Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and the moon all gracing the night sky. And during the day, sunspot 1429 has been visible on the surface of the sun. I took my telescope out in the back yard this afternoon and got a decent shot of the latest sunspot.

I know it looks like dust on the lens, but those dark splotches on the lower left side of the sun are actually an active sunspot. Check out Phil Plait’s version that puts the size of the sunspot into perspective!