circus of the sun

The sun may be in the depths of solar minimum and low in activity, but it still presented a three ring circus during the first days of spring 2009.

At the moment of the vernal equinox on March 20th, it performed a magic trick, somehow appearing simultaneously at both ends of my street. The next day it painted a perfect circular halo in the thin clouds at midday while solar prominences performed a high wire act, ejecting beautiful plumes of hydrogen ten earth diameters out into space. Follow the links to full sized versions of each image.

March 20 and 21, 2009/ Seen from various locations on my street in downtown Buffalo, NY

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