Despite the fact that the solar maximum should be gone for about two years, our Sun continues to produce giant sunspots, which lead to geomagnetic storms in interplanetary space and subsequent auroras which can be seen down to the middle latitudes in extreme cases.

Telescope:	Vixen R130S, 5.1" Newton Telescope on Super Polaris mount, 20mm eyepiece
Camera:	Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera
Date:	2002-08-17

All images © Philipp Salzgeber