The Sun is waking up!
After a long minimum, the Sun is showing some Sun spot activity again. We are now in Solar Cycle 24 (the 24th since 1755 when modern Sun spot records began) with Solar Max for this cycle predicted to be around 2013 (NASA), but predictions are just that so lets wait and see.

Below are some images that I have taken and will be adding to as the year goes on that will hopefully show the increase in Sun spot activity. All of the photos have been taken via my Meade 10" LX200 classic with a Thousand Oaks white light sun filter using my Canon EOS 400D at Prime Focus. Exposure time is 1/125 sec at 100ASA. Each image is a montage of about four to capture the complete disk.

My Solar Photography Setup
28th December 2009
21st March 2010

 
22nd May 2010
23rd May 2010 (the 1 day rotation can be clearly observed via comparison with the photo above )

Close up of the sun spot group. Taken using the same set-up as described above but with a Meade DSI I camera.
30th August 2010 (slightly cloudy sky) showing northern hemisphere sunspot 1101 (near centre) and 1102 (north east).