If you have a solar filter, check out the sunspot group AR 3190 that’s crossing the solar disk this week.
If you have a solar filter, be sure to have a look at the Sun over the next several days. Sunspot AR 3190, which is crossing our stars central meridian today, is massive — so big, in fact, that you can see it without a telescope by simply holding a filter to your eyes and having a look.

SDO / HMI
Of course, the view is much more rewarding with a properly filtered telescope, as there are more than half-a-dozen smaller groups of spots riddling the photosphere.
Solar activity is rapidly increasing as we head towards the maximum of the Sun's 11-year cycle, which should peak in 2025. Long-time Sky & Telescope contributor Tom Fleming notes he's seen more sunspots this week than any time since Cycle 25 began a few years ago. So if it's clear and you have a safe solar filter, be sure to have a look! Observers with small refractors lacking a solar filter could also see the spot by projecting the image onto a piece of paper. Just be careful not to look at the Sun through the unfiltered telescope.

Sky &a Telescope illustration
To read more about safe solar imaging, check out the November 2022 issue of Sky & Telescope.
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