The sunspot that made the auroras

Photonstopper
Our inland view of the aurora borealis competing with suburban light pollution the night of November 12, 2025. The aurora on the previous night was stronger, raising excitement worldwide; it was cloudy here that night.
Just above the treeline in the center of this image may be seen hints of the aurora borealis. Farther north from here, looking out over a dark landscape, the show was probably pretty good!

Here are some views of the sunspot

that blew off the CMEs

that caused the geomagnetic storms

that made the auroras

that raised all the hubbub this week.

The sunspot at Active Region 4274 is responsible for all the action. Where we show two sunspots, the smaller one (bottom edge) is AR4275.

The first view is in hydrogen-alpha light, the second and third views are in white light; yellow-orange tones are false color applied in processing.

Sunspots and prominences shown via hydrogen-alpha light, false color added.
A white light view of AR4274 (top) and much smaller AR4275 (bottom), false color applied.
AR4272 close up, with interesting patterns emerging in both the umbra and penumbra areas of the larger spot. Strong winds at the time of imaging reduced resolution somewhat.
Here’s a white light image of Sun we made this morning depicting very Active Region 4274 and its less busy neighbors. Rotation is a bit off — rotated southward — but left alone for composition purposes. AR4274 is responsible for a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that resulted in two nights of auroral displays that excited observers worldwide.