Hydrogen alpha Time Lapse Movie of an Emerging Sunspot
On 21 Jan 2011, AR 1147 had a new neighbor. AR 1149 was poking its magnetic flux tubes into the photosphere and chromospheres. The emerging sunspot crackled with flares. For 3 hours, the area pulsed with B and C class flares that were easily viewed as I watched on the computer screen. I made this time lapse movie at 1 minute intervals 1815-2111 UT.
Many interesting features are visible in the movie, including active region filaments that jump and eject plasma. These ejections might appear as sprays, surges, and loops if they had been viewed on the limb. A flare can be seen as it rips the superpenumbra and penumbra of a sunspot. Here is an Xray plot showing the flare activity that day.
