We recently closed the year 2019, a year that has brought us many good things, such as the successful deployment of Cheops, a satellite which will help us to know more about exoplanets.

 

Now it is time to start a new year with the same enthusiasm as the previous ones.  And what better way to start it with the CESAR team and a look at the sun with our HELIOS observatory in ESAC.

 

 

Although the sun is currently at the minimum of its activity cycle, it seems that our star wants to greet the New Year with a Solar Spot, the first in quite some time.

 

As you can see in the image of the halpha filter (above on the right side), there is a region sligthly lighter than the rest of the surface (top right). This phenomenon is known as faculae, an area of the sun somewhat hotter than the rest of the photosphere. If we look in more detail in the image of the visible light (above left), we can also see the corresponding sunspot, the first we see in a long time!

 

You can see the Sun live every day on our web page: the Sun live