Faculae

Today's Sun looks much less active than of late but that is not the case. The sunspot group AR1748 although fading visually is still harbouring enough energy to cause powerful flares. I processed this image to try and bring out the brightish streaks and filaments that are just visible at the limb (edge) of the Sun. These are also areas of magnetic activity like sunspots and are often associated with spot groups. Whilst sunspots make the Sun appear darker, faculae make it appear brighter. At sunspot maximum the faculae outdo the spots and make the Sun appear ever so slightly brighter by about 0.1% than at sunspot minimum; sounds counter-intuitive but there we are!