My usual afternoon peek at the Sun was quite spectacular today. There are two large spot groups. The larger one is the one I've been following for a whle now. Today it has become very complex with dozens of smaller spots in addition to the big one.

I dragged out my LX200 to get a better view. I decided to compare views at about the same magnification (150x) between my Pronto and the 12" SCT. The main difference is.....exit pupil! I could see only a little more detail with the LX200 but the view was much nicer since the exit pupil was a comfortable 2mm instead of the Pronto's 0.5mm: in the Pronto the view is dominated by the floaters in my eye :-( . Also, with the big scope I'm much better able to see the plages and I get just a hint of granulation on the photosphere that is entirely absent in the Pronto.

It just happened the my cleaning girls were here at the time I set up. So before they left I gave them a quick peek at the Sun. One of them said "Kewl", the other said (referring to the big spot group) "It looks like a worm"! :-)