WOW...I have Just Seen the Sun...Wow...!!!

I got some photos...Had to just grab the first camera nearest to me...so the pics aint good...

I am really sorry for all those affected by the fires we have. So please don't think I am being insensitive.

The smoke from the bush fires just caused the perfect situation...I just happened to go to the back door and there it was...For a few seconds I thought the moon is not due till about 3am...It really took several seconds to sink in, I was looking at the sun.

I could see fire storms moving on the surface. I saw 3 black spots. At first I thought it must be a planet, Mercury maybe, but then 2 more appeared and they did not move. Then the first one that was moving to start with, stopped moving. I could see what must have been an absolutely hughmungest fire storm go around three times at the centre, but it did not come back a fourth time. Then I saw a smaller but obviously gigantic storm going round at the base (or south end from my perspective). This smaller storm was coming around every 7 to 8 seconds. I saw massive clouds go around 2 or 3 times then change shape but still going around.

I am a grown man but right now I feel like kid that has just seen his first...

I have to look at the photos I just took. Maybe I got some shots that will show what I saw. I doubt it. But I will post them soon.

I am just so excited to have seen what I just saw...You just can't look at the sun... What we see on the moon with formations and shapes and craters and stuff, with the nacked eye, is what I just saw on the sun.

I think I better go and calm down...Nice cuppa I think whilst I check the photos...I am just so excited. You just don't see what I just saw...

As expected, the pics are not the best. It was just a little digital camera that just happen to be in reach at the time. There was simply no time to make adjustments so all I could do was set to full auto and shoot.

This is the best of them...

I know you don't see much detail. But you will notice that the light from the sun was so balanced that the camera has no problem seeing the underside of my garage eve.

It doesn't look so great when you are in the thick of it.

This is the view looking to the left.

Thanks PeterD...

I really do feel for those affected and mean no disrespect. It is horrific to say the least.

But it made me see something that I can only describe as incredible and amazing and certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

This is a mud map of what I saw...

The first thing I saw was the large storm. It was very white, like white hot type white. It moved to the left and reappeared on the right about 20 seconds later. It did that three times...It did not appear a 4th time.

Oh and the scale of my mud map is about right. The size of the storms and cloud and dots compared to my circle is about right for what I saw.

Next I noticed the cloud bands. I doubt if they were clouds, but that is what they looked liked. At first I thought it was smoke, but then noticed they were spinning and coming back around just like the storm did. These two cloud bands continued all the time I could see.

Then I realised that I was witnessing something special. So I come inside to make notes and the PC was on and logged into this forum...So you became my note pad...I made a quick note (my OP) then back outside.

The sun was now fading in the smoke haze of bush fires just south of me. So I came back inside and just grabbed the first camera I saw (yes I have a few). Back out side and it was gone...Then it started to reappear. I could now see it even clearer. The cloud bands were still very clear and very obviously spinning.

That's when I started taking pictures. I knew there was only seconds or maybe a minute or two at best. After about 10 snaps, the thought came to me that my camera was OK...So I dropped it (no damage done) ran inside and grabbed the binoculars.

The large storm to the "north" could be seen with naked eyes...With the binoculars the first thing I noticed was the smaller storm at the bottom...It was very bright and had large tails like we see in cyclones. It was travelling to the left and was reappearing on the right every 7 to 8 seconds. I was spell bound by this stage. By now it had fully sunk in that I was looking directly upon the surface of the sun.

I don't know how many times the small storm came round or when it stopped. I watched it maybe 9 or 10 times. What got my attention was a black "dot" that was so out of place it stood out like dogs 'dots'. On my mud map, it came from the line at the top. It moved slow and stopped where I have shown the lowest dot. At first I thought 'wow I am seeing a planet move across the sun' but it stopped and never moved again. About 15 seconds later the lower dot to the right appeared. It did not drift in like the first one, it just appeared. Then about 10 seconds later the third and highest dot appeared. Again no movement, it just appeared.

I then looked south ( or towards the bottom) again and I could not see the small storm. The two cloud bands were still there just as clear as from the start. I look towards the top or north again and all three dots were still there and not moving.

Then without warning the bottom of the sun became instantly bright. Like turning a light on. Within a few seconds the whole thing was back to being to bright to look at.

If I had to guess, and it can only be a guess because time seems different when these things happen, I would say the whole thing all happened in about 4 to 5 minutes.

Ahhhh, yes ... the Sun. Fascinating mankind for the last however many hundreds of thousands of years we've been on Earth. [;-)

http://www.sunorbit.net/real_sun.htm