Copyright Alan Friedman / avertedimagination.com

Powerful sunspots and gauzy-looking prominences can be seen in Alan Friedman's photo of the sun, shown in hydrogen-alpha wavelengths.

Photographers are having a field day chronicling the hot flashes on our increasingly active sun.

For the past couple of weeks, astronomers have been tracking groups of sunspots as they move across the sun's disk. Those active regions have been shooting off flares and outbursts of electrically charged particles into space — signaling that the sun is ramping up toward the peak of its 11-year activity cycle. Physicists expect that peak, also known as "Solar Max," to come in 2013.

Copyright Alan Friedman / avertedimagination.com

A prominence big enough to engulf our planet loops up from the edge of the sun's disk in this photo by Alan Friedman.

A full frontal view from New York photographer Alan Friedman shows the current activity in detail, as seen in a particular wavelength known as hydrogen-alpha. The colors have been tweaked to turn the sun look like a warm, fuzzy ball, with lacy prominences licking up from the edge of the disk.

Friedman focused on one flare in particular over the weekend: In the picture you see at right, the colors have been reversed to produce a dark sun and dusky prominence against the light background of space.

"The prominence was huge (approximately 150,000 miles long from our perspective and more than 50,000 miles high) but it was a little faint," Friedman told me in an email. "I found that the subtle structures showed better when the image was reversed. I was holding a public observing event at the Buffalo Museum of Science on Saturday when this was taken, very late in the afternoon. It took all my strength to peel the eyes from my telescope and put in the camera for a few minutes. The sun was putting on the most spectacular visual show I can recall in quite a few years." 

Another spectacle took place on Monday, when a powerful magnetic filament — rippling more than 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers) across the sun's disk at one point — snapped off a huge flare. SpaceWeather.com offers an animated image of the event, courtesy of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, and here's a YouTube video that shows the filament in action:

More pictures of the sun's flare-ups are available from the SpaceWeather.com website, and there might be still more to come. "Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments," SpaceWeather.com's Tony Phillips says.

More hot flashes from the sun:

• Good news! Solar flare won't destroy Earth
• Stunning view of the sun ... and Discovery?!
• Pictures and video: Stare at the sun
• Slideshow: Month in Space Pictures

Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or following the Cosmic Log Google+ page. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Around 18,000 neo-pagans, new agers and curious visitors gathered in heavy rain Tuesday morning to watch the sun rise over the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge in southern England, the AP reported.

The celebrations are a modern twist on solstice celebrations that were a highlight of the pre-Christian calendar.

There were cheers as the sun finally broke through the clouds more than a couple of hours after sunrise.

Kieran Doherty / Reuters

A druid plays a guitar during incantations at the summer solstice ceremony at Stonehenge on Salisbury plain in southern England on June 21. Stonehenge is a celebrated venue of festivities during the summer solstice - the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere - and it attracts thousands of revellers, spiritualists and tourists. Druids, a pagan religious order dating back to Celtic Britain, believe Stonehenge was a centre of spiritualism more than 2,000 years ago.

Kieran Doherty / Reuters

Two druids walk across Salisbury Plain after celebrating the summer solstice ceremony.

Matt Dunham / AP

Revellers hug a stone during the summer solstice at Stonehenge.

Matt Dunham / AP

Revelers cheer and raise their faces skyward as the sun finally breaks through the clouds more than a couple of hours after sunrise during the summer solstice at Stonehenge.

Read a story from space.com: What you don't know about the summer solstice and watch the video below.

Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP - Getty Images

Swedish people enjoy a day in the sun on the first days of spring in Stockholm on March 22, 2011.

As one who lives in Seattle, I can relate to the expression I see in their faces.

Amateur astrophotographer Alan Friedman has done it again. Adding to an already impressive collection of outer space images, he just published two more magnificent photos of the sun. First, here's a view of a gassy prominence flaring off the sun like a cloud:

Alan Friedman

This section of the solar disk was imaged at the Winter Star Party on West Summerland Key in Florida, in the midst of 30 mph winds. The massive detached solar prominence was visible for hours. Skies were quite steady, despite the wind.

To add some perspective on the sheer magnitude of what Friedman is documenting, look at the dark spot below the prominence. That spot is roughly twice the size of the Earth. 

Using the same specialized equipment he used in October 2010 to produce the last set of breathtaking images, Friedman looks at the deep red end of the light spectrum to capture the emissions given off by hydrogen gas in the sun's atmosphere.

He also came away with a historic glimpse of Discovery as it was docked to the International Space Station, during the space shuttle's final mission.

Friedman said he captured the event, lasting just a fifth of a second, after making an 1,800-mile drive from Buffalo, N.Y., to the Winter Star Party in West Summerland Key, Fla.

He went to the Florida gathering "for the steady skies, warm temperatures and the company of good astronomy friends." But when he learned that the International Space Station would cross paths with the sun, and that the sight would be visible 20 miles north of where the star party was being held, he felt compelled to document the flyover.

"I jumped into the car with solar imaging gear, and we got set up just in time to catch it." he said. "I underestimated the narrowness of this event. We were about 5,000 feet south of the centerline in a good location... another 500 feet and we would have missed it entirely. Lucky day!"

Alan Friedman

Silhouetted by the sun, the space shuttle Discovery can be seen docked to the International Space Station during its final mission.

Friedman talks with TODAY.com's Dara Brown about his latest work:

More imagery of the sun and the shuttle:

• Stare at the sun: An unusual view by Alan Friedman
• Greatest hits from the space shuttle Discovery
• More space shots for shuttle fans
• Month in Space Pictures