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Each month a summary of sunspot activity is written and forms part of a report sent to the Solar Section of the British Astronomical Association (BAA) and to The Astronomer. Follow the links below to read a page summary of sunspot activity. The McIntosh Sunspot Group Classification is used for sunspot group descriptions.

January 2002

The number of groups seen at the beginning of the month remained high, as did the sunspot number. For example, on the 1st 13 groups were seen almost evenly split between the northern and southern hemispheres and the sunspot number was 182. However, none of the groups were particularly large but there was a spread of latitudes with several groups within 5° of the equator and one Axx spot at 26°S/70° . The largest group seen between the 1st and 4th was a Dac group at 18°S/22° which had an area of 280 millionths on the 1st. Following this was a Dkc group at 24°S/13° which had an area of 220 millionths on the 2nd and 3rd. As these groups progressed towards the central meridian, the spots within each group spread out such that by the 4th it became difficult to separate them into two groups.

An observation on the 10th showed a moderately sized Eac group just past the central meridian at 15°N/327° - it had an area of 430 millionths. It comprised a string of three main penumbral spots, the middle one being particularly irregularly shaped. When next seen on the 12th, the longitudinal extent of the group had increased such that it was of type Fkc with a slightly larger area of 460 millionths. The group still consisted of three main penumbral spots with the middle one changing the most (now being less irregular). This group was last seen on the 15th close to the western limb.

The 12th saw the return of the Fkc group at 12°N/213° seen at the end of December. Now the group was of type Dao with a much reduced size of just 100 millionths. Its appearance changed little when seen on the 15th and 19th. The final observation of the month on the 19th shower fewer groups that at the start of the month, at 10, but again none were particularly large.

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February 2002

The first observation of the month, on the 9th, showed a total of 9 small groups spread across the disk and almost evenly distributed between the northern and southern hemispheres. Over near the eastern limb, three groups were seen. The western most of these was of type Cso at 18°N/222° while on the 10th it was of type Hax with an area of 90 millionths before it decayed to type Axx when last seen on the 14th. The northern most group at 23°N/204° was of type Hsx throughout its passage across the disk with a peak area of 140 millionths on the 16th. The third group at 14°N/207° was the largest and the most active of the three. It was first seen as type Dso on the 9th while by the 14th it had become type Fkc near the central meridian with an area of 490 millionths. The largest spot within the group was towards the centre with many spots following and a few small penumbral spots leading. By the 15th many of the following spots had disappeared and the spot in the middle of the group had become less irregular. The total area of the group remained the same. By the 16th, the group began to decay with an area of 260 millionths and it was of type Eac. The number of spots within the group had reduced further when last seen on the 18th, although its area remained similar to the 16th.

The other moderately sized group seen during the month was first seen as type Csi at 19°S/138° on the 15th close to the eastern limb. A small penumbral spot was seen together with a string of following spots. By the 16th four small penumbral spots were seen in the now type Eac group and its area was 250 millionths. The leading part of the group had developed further by the 18th, the last observation of the month, with a main asymmetrical leading penumbral spot and other following smaller penumbral spots. On this date the group was of type Fkc with an increased area of 490 millionths.

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March 2002

The largest group seen on the 2nd was of type Eac with an area of 350 millionths just past the central meridian at 18°N/13°. The penumbral spots were at either end of the group where there were 5 at the leading end and 2 at the following end. By the 3rd, the group had become type Fac with a slightly larger area of 380 millionths. When last seen on the 5th, the number of spots within the group had reduced slightly.

During the period of 3rd to 9th an Hsx spot was seen close to the equator at 4°S/270° with an area, on the 4th, of 140 millionths. When it was last seen on the 9th, it was near the central meridian and the spot had become type Hax. Also on the 9th, an Eho group was seen near the eastern limb. When next seen on the 16th, the group was type Eac at 8°S/192° with an area of 410 millionths. There were four main penumbral spots, all being asymmetric together with other smaller spots. The group had decayed slightly by the 17th while by the 19th most of the spots within the group had disappeared as the group area had reduced to just 180 millionths. The group was last seen on the 21st as a small Dso group close to the western limb.

Between the 21st and 29th, either 8 or 9 groups were seen per observation which were spread across the disk and between the northern and southern hemispheres. The largest group seen during the month first appeared on the disk as an Hsx spot near the eastern limb on the 27th. By the following day, it was seen as type Dao while on the 29th, the group, at 11°N/317°, had become type Fac with an area of 450 millionths. There were now many penumbral spots spread throughout the group lead by the largest penumbral spot of the group. When next seen on the 31st, the group had grown considerably as its area was 710 millionths due mainly to two asymmetric penumbral spots at the leading and middle parts of the group. Many other spots were seen between these penumbral spots and in the following portion of the group. Also on the 31st, two nearby Dac groups were seen at 2°N/298° and 11°S/289° which had areas of 220 and 390 millionths respectively.

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April 2002

Two groups with areas greater than 500 millionths were seen on the 3rd. Both were in the northern hemisphere; one was an Fhc group at 15°N/316° with an area of 550 millionths where the following part of the group was on the central meridian while the other group was of type Ekc at 3°N/297° with an area of 520 millionth where the leader spot was just to the east of the central meridian. The Fhc group had a particularly long longitude extent at over 35° and it had several penumbral spots spread out along the group. The appearance of this group was similar on subsequent observations and it was last seen on the 7th when it was near the western limb. The Ekc group had increased its size slightly by 4th to 640 millionths before decaying slightly due to the changing shape of the leading penumbral spot, from a regular to irregular shape, and that of the following penumbral spot. The number of spots between the leader and follower reduced as the group progressed towards the limb such that none were present when the group was last seen on the 8th.

Another long F type group was first seen near the eastern limb on the 4th. As this group, at 20°N/212°, moved away from the limb, its longitudinal extent was some 20° on the 7th when it comprised of one main leading penumbral spot and a string of small penumbral and other spots. By the 8th, the largest spot within the group was now towards the following part of the group as an irregular spot had formed taking the total area to 470 millionths. There were daily changes to the shape of the spots in the group with the merging of penumbral spots towards the following part of the group and the reduction in the number of spots towards the leading part of the group. When seen on the 13th and 14th, the total area was 560 millionths. Only the following irregular spot was seen on the 16th as the remaining part of the group had already rotated off the disk.

A rapidly developing southern hemisphere group was first seen on the disk as an Csi group at 14°S/150° on the 11th with an area of just 40 millionths (no spots were seen at this location on the 10th). By the 13th, this group had become type Dkc with an area of 480 millionths and it comprised mainly of two penumbral spots with the following being more irregular than the leader. By the next day, the 14th, the group was of type Ekc with a slightly larger area of 580 millionths due to the changing shape of the two main penumbral spots: the leader became more symmetric while the follower became larger. The following spot increased in size further by the 17th to take the total area of the group to 760 millionths but the number of spots between the leader and follower reduced to zero so the group was now of type Eko. When next seen on the 18th, the following spot had split into several penumbral spots. As this group neared the western limb, it was of type Eac; it was last seen on the 21st.

Throughout the month, the number of groups remained fairly high at between 7 and 14 such that the sunspot number was at least 113 and as high as 201 (on the 17th and 24th respectively). The spread of groups was reasonably even amongst the northern and southern hemispheres.

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May 2002

On the 1st, two penumbral spots were seen close to the eastern limb. By the 3rd, these had rotated onto the disk to show an Ekc group at 15°S/211° with an area of 610 millionths. Unusually, the two main spots were of a similar longitude, with the larger of the spots being towards the north. There were also a few smaller spots surrounding the two main penumbral spots. By the 6th, the northern spot appeared slightly larger and symmetric while the southern spot had split into two smaller spots. The appearance of the southern spots changed day by day while the northern spot reduced in size such that when the group was near the central meridian on the 7th, it was of type Dhc with an area of 490 millionths. When last seen on the 8th, three irregular penumbral spots were seen to the south such that the total area had increased to 720 millionths. This group was seen again on its next rotation, on the 31st, as an Ekc group at 16°S/214° with an area of also 720 millionths. Now the group comprised of 5 penumbral spots, the largest being towards the following part of the group.

On the 14th, an Eho group was seen at 21°S/88° with an area of 420 millionths. The leader spot dominated the group as the follower was a small penumbral spot and there were no spots seen between the leader and follower. As the group progressed towards the central meridian, the following spots decayed such that on the 17th just an Hhx spot remained. Subsequent observations showed no significant changes in the appearance of this group; the single Hhx spot was last seen close to the western limb on the 22nd.

On the 16th, a slender irregular penumbral spot spanning 6° in latitude was seen on the eastern limb at 8°N/14°. On the 17th, two smaller penumbral spots accompanied this spot to the north and another at the leader position. The irregular spot included many umbrae. On the 18th, this group was classified as type Dkc with an area of 720 millionths. By the 19th, another leader penumbral spot had formed while the main spot had changed shape slightly. The area of the group was now 990 millionths. The next observation a couple of days later, on the 21st, showed that the main spot had split into many smaller penumbral spots spread out in latitude and longitude. The total area had reduced by almost half to 570 millionths. Subsequent observations showed a further reduction in area and number of spots. This group was last seen approaching the western limb as a Dai group on the 27th.

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June 2002

The Ekc group at 15°S/213° on 31st May continued to be the most prominent group on the disk during the early part of the month. On the 2nd this group had an area of 890 millionths with a leading spot that had formed by the merger of two penumbral spots to given an irregular spot and a symmetric main follower spot. By the 3rd, the group had reduced in size again and it was on the central meridian. This group was not seen again until the 21st when it re-appeared around the eastern limb on its next rotation. Now it was a much smaller Hsx spot at 15°S/209° with an area of just 40 millionths.

After the first few days of the month activity was seen to reduce from that seen during recent month. This was particularly true for the northern hemisphere. The dominant group during this period was first seen on the eastern limb on the 18th at 9°S/294° as an Hsx spot. On the 20th, its area was 490 millionths and of type Hkx. Small following penumbral spots were seen on the 21st to make the group of type Dkc. When the group approached the central meridian on the 24th, its size had increased slightly to 520 millionths. Once past the central meridian, the now Hkx spot became more asymmetric and slightly smaller such as when seen on the 28th its area was 340 millionths. The group was seen approaching the western limb on the 30th.

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July 2002

Activity during the early part of the month was dominated by several small groups in the southern hemisphere: in the north 1 group was seen on the 1st, no groups on the 4th and a newly rotated Dho group on the 9th. When this group, at 20°N/13°, was next seen on the 10th, it was of type Ekc which continued to develop into type Fkc on the 11th when many more small penumbral spots were seen following the main leader spot. This group was now the largest on the solar disk. On the following day, the 12th, the leader had become more asymmetric and the follower spot had increased in size; the area of the group was estimated to be 680 millionths. On the following few days, this group became more prominent as it progressed towards the central meridian, although it size increased only slightly to 770 millionths on the 15th. It was now nearly 20° in longitude. When seen on the 17th, the group had developed from being a collection of many small penumbral spots to being a group with two main irregularly shaped spots in the middle and following parts of the group; its area had increased to 980 millionths. The group had a similar appearance on the 18th but after this date, the group rapidly decayed such that on the 19th and 20th it was 570 and 440 millionths respectively. It was last seen near the western on the 22nd as just two small penumbral spots.

On the 17th a Dko group was seen at 5°S/297° with an area of 640 millionths. On the 18th more penumbral spots were seen within just over 10° of longitude. By the 20th, two irregular spots were at either end of the group with two smaller penumbral spots to the south; now the area was some 980 millionths. As the group progressed past the central meridian and towards the western limb, it remained of type Ekc with a smaller area on the 24th but it had decayed by the 25th to 570 millionths. It was last seen near the western limb on the 26th as type a Hhx spot.

The 22nd brought a slender Dsc group close to the eastern limb. By the 24th this group appeared as an Ekc type at 15°S/208° with an area of 1070 millionths due mainly to the leading penumbral spot which had several umbrae within it together with an area of photosphere. On the 25th, the leading spot had become more irregular and on the 26th many pores were seen within the group. What made this group look more impressive was the development of another group just to the south-west at 19°S/212°. This was of type Dao on the 24th with an area of 150 millionths and then of type Eac on the 26th with an area of 470 millionths. On this latter date, the spots of both these groups spanned some 20° of longitude and 15° of latitude.

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August 2002

The group that dominated activity during the month was seen on the 12th, the first observation of the month. On this date the Ekc group, at 7°S/301°, was close to the eastern limb when it comprised two main penumbral spots each at a similar longitude and two small penumbral spots at leading and following positions. By the following day, the group had a similar appearance and it had an estimated area of 1310 millionths. On the 14th, the two main penumbral spots had merged to give a spot that extended, at its extremities, some 8° in both latitude and longitude. Several umbrae were seen within the main spot. As the group neared the central meridian on the 16th and 17th, the main spot had increased in size; the majority of the group's 1920 millionths area on the 17th was due to the main spot as there were only a few small accompanying penumbral spots. The main spot still retained approximately the same size in latitude and longitude (now 10°) and with many umbrae including one large umbra towards the centre of the group. On the 18th, the group now just past the central meridian, became elongated in longitude, its area increased slightly to 2070 millionths and a couple of regions of photosphere were seen within the main spot. The outline of the penumbra of the main spot continued to change when seen on the 19th and 21st although its area remained similar on both dates as did it classification of type Ekc. The group was last seen close to the western limb on the 23rd.

With the passing of the large group around the western limb, activity in the northern hemisphere reduced such that no spots observed in the northern hemisphere on 24th, 27th and 28th and only one group on the 25th (type Axx), 29th (Hsx) and 31st (Fkc). During this period the southern hemisphere activity remained at a similar level as in earlier in the month.

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September 2002

Activity on the 1st activity was predominantly in the south east quadrant of the Sun with the largest group of the 10 groups seen being of type Fkc at 9°N/63° with an area of 660 millionths. The next observation on the 7th showed that this group had reduced to type Fsc with an area of 210 millionths. This group was last seen on the 8th as it approached the western limb when it had reduced in size further to 160 millionths.

The 7th saw the return of the large August sunspot group when an Hax spot was seen on the eastern limb. By the next day, more spots were seen including a following spot such that the group, at 8°S/297°, was of type Fkc. By the 12th, there were two main spots, a nearly symmetrical leading spot and a smaller asymmetric following spot. The leader had several surrounding spots and the total area was 980 millionths. On the 13th, the leader, now near the central meridian, had become more asymmetric while the follower had increased in size such that the total area was now 1130 millionths (just over half the maximum area of the previous rotation). When on the 16th, the follower spot had decayed into a number of small penumbral spots while the leading spot had also reduced in size so that the total area was 630 millionths.

On the 16th a small Dso group was seen 14°S/230° with an area of just 60 millionths. When next seen on the 21st this group had increased in size to 710 millionths when it was of type Fkc. It comprised of an elongated leading spot containing several umbrae within it and a couple of small following penumbral spots. The main spot had decayed by the 23rd such that the area of the group was 400 millionths.

Towards the end of the month, the number of groups steadily reduced such that on the 30th just 3 were visible.

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October 2002

Just 3 groups were seen on the 1st and 3rd. One of the groups from the 3rd was of Cao type towards the eastern limb at 11°N/338°. By the 6th this group had developed into type Dkc with an area of 470 millionths. It comprised several penumbral spots with the central one being the largest. By the following day, the 7th, the central and following spots had merged to give a main irregular elongated penumbral spot with a smaller leading penumbral spot and a few surrounding spots. The group was now classified as type Dki and its area was 490 millionths. The number of groups seen on the 6th and 7th increased to 6 on each day.

Observations on the 17th and 19th showed a variety of moderately sized groups spread across the disk. A Hsx spot was seen close to the eastern limb on the 17th. By the 19th, it could be seen that this single spot was the leader of a Fhc group, at 27°N/124°, which had several penumbral spots following the main symmetrical spot. The next observation, on the 28th, showed that the following part of the group had merged to leave an elongated penumbral spot; the group was now of type Fkc with an area of 880 millionths.

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November 2002

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December 2002

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Last updated on 22 December 2002.