VERY SPOTTED SUN: Solar activity is still relatively low, but the appearance of the sun suggests the quiet might not last. Over the weekend, a profusion of new sunspot groups peppered the solar disk with dark cores–each one a potential source of eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of M-class flares and a 5% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

There are so many spots on the sun, even a jumbo jet cannot hide them:

Raffaello Lena took the picture on January 5 not far from the international airport in Rome, Italy. “An animation of the flyby is available here,” he says.

fr/spaceweather.com