New Active Regions - 5th September

Things have been busy of late not leaving much time for solar observing or updates to my website.  I have been out in the States on holiday to observe the total solar eclipse.  I've got a lot of pictures which at the moment i'm working through processing, initial results are promising and i'm working on an animation of the whole event along with a report.  In the mean time our star is showing a pleasing amount of activity with active large sunspot genesis with large flares.  This is a result of Band - Band interaction (after McIntosh et al) where bands of deep magnetic flux associated with the declining phase of the solar cycle get ever closer at lower latitudes towards the solar equator.  These bands have opposite magnetic polarity, opposite helicity, and, because they are in different hemispheres different Coriolis forces.  As a result of all these opposing factors we should anticipate that we have dynamic, fast forming and potentially violent active regions.  Which, is exactly what we see at the moment.  Incidentally, when you consider the Carrington event in 1859 this happened in the declining phase of solar cycle 10, at exactly the same point we are no in cycle 24, maybe we will get a repeat event this cycle?  Certainly worth looking out for!