SOUTHERN SUNSPOT ACTIVITY: The sun's southern hemisphere is showing signs of life. Three sunspots are growing there. Their dark cores are inset in this surface magnetogram from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

https://imgur.com/byAobF3

The +/- magnetic polarity of all three spots marks them as members of new Solar Cycle 25. The young solar cycle has been struggling to produce sunspots, so three at once is a notable uptick in activity. If their growth continues apace, the two new sunspots will likely receive official designations AR2815 and AR2816 tomorrow.

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