Solar activity
Yesterday I heard several news stories predicting the strong possibility of northern lights tonight (July 14) or tomorrow night. Here's what the sun looked like at 11:00 AM CDT today. The picture was taken through an Orion Shorttube 80 refractor with a Canon PowerShot A710 camera. I edited it somewhat to increase the contrast and sharpness. I assume that the large sunspot is related to the solar activity that may cause the northern lights.