Active region NOAA 0484

This G-band image of active solar region NOAA 0484 demonstrates the spectacular image quality now achieved with the high-order adaptive optics system at the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST) at Sacramento Peak, NM. Taken on the 24th of October, 2003, during a period of solar storms that drew worldwide interest, the image shows evidence for dark penumbral cores, which were also recently reported at the 1-meter Swedish Telescope in La Palma. Data taken simultaneously with the Diffraction-Limited Spectro-Polarimeter (DLSP) and the Universal Birefringent Filter (UBF) at the DST are likely to give more information about the physical origin of these newly discovered features. The DLSP is a collaborative project between the National Solar Observatory and the High Altitude Observatory. See the December 2003 NOAO Newsletter (currently only available in PDF format), for which this picture was the cover illustration.