Capturing sunspots with a point and shoot

[PhotoHobbyist]

Today I took a set of shots of the sun setting with Canadian forest fire smoke on the horizon. I can see sunspots!
The smoke acted like a filter and most pics show a large sunspot. The smaller sunspots only appeared in one shot when sun was not to bright or to dim. I would not think this possible without a DSLR, tripod, and telephoto lens. My camera is an old Canon SX260HS point and shoot and nothing special.

The data on left was taken from spaceweather for today's sunspots. To the right is my photo. I had to rotate the data pic 90 degrees to line up to my photo. My photo has the big sunspot and a line of four smaller sunspots like the data pic.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

Here is most interesting shot of the set, but set to far to see sunspots. It looks like a bizarre Jupiter hovering in the sky.
I will try again with my DSLR, a sharp lens, and a tripod if weather and smoke allows.

 

[terri]

That's a beautiful, intriguing shot. It's always interesting to see the effects from smoke and other atmospheric conditions on sunsets.

 

[wobe]

Impressive, especially from a Point and Shoot!!

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

Impressive, especially from a Point and Shoot!!

According to spaceweather.com the big sunspot is four times bigger than the Earth. I always have a point and shoot in my car console. Getting something is better than nothing which would be the case as I won't leave my DSLR in a hot car all summer. I believe this shot was taken at about 10X zoom with image stabilization.

 

[jeffashman]

Very nice shots! Those Canon PowerShot SX cameras are impressive. I have a PowerShot SX10, and it rivals my Canon 90D in some aspects, in spite of the megapixel difference and the difference in sensors.