On May 10th, 2012 students at Hopewell Middle School in a suburb of Atlanta, GA witnessed and imaged the largest sunspot anyone has seen in years in Active Region 11476. We were able to capture this highly detailed image of the Umbra, Penumbra, granulation and surrounding "pores" or newly forming spots as they broiled with magnetic activity. The spot is now aimed squarely at Earth as spaceweather forecasters around the world try to determine what may happen next. We used an Explore Scientific 127mm APO refractor and a Lunt Solar Wedge with a DMK 41AU02.AS camera to image the region.

Stephen W. Ramsden, www.solarastronomy.org