SUNSPOT ALERT:
 

The sun is near the lowest ebb of the 11-year solar cycle and, until
now, 2007 has been a year of very few sunspots. Enter sunspot 978: It
popped over the sun's eastern limb yesterday and is quickly becoming a
behemoth. The rapidly growing sunspot group is more than five times
wider than Earth, making it an easy target for properly-filtered
backyard telescopes. So far sunspot 978 poses little threat for strong
solar flares, but this could change if the active region's development
continues apace.


Visit http://spaceweather.com for updates, movies and images.