Sunspots are hard to come by. But when those like the recent AR2529 do, they make all the effort worthwhile. Observed on April 12 of this year, this adorable heart-shaped sunspot was captured by Ohio-based astrophotographer John Chumack.

For those who don’t know, sunspots are temporary dark patches on the sun’s photosphere that are slightly cooler than the surrounding regions. The result of intense magnetic activity, sunspots are usually associated with solar flares as well as coronal mass ejections (or CMEs), which are basically giant clouds of solar plasma hurled into space at incredibly high speeds of around 300 kilometers per second.

Captured right from Chumack’s backyard observatory in Dayton, the unusual sunspot was massive enough to accommodate two Earths, thus making it easily for amateur astronomers to capture it in photograph. Speaking about the experience, Chumack said:

I caught sunspot AR2529 flaring at lunch time in this close-up view. [It] looks like a dachshund dog face with folded over ears or a heart.

Via: Live Science