I had no idea that since 1956 astronomers have been hand-drawing “solar synoptic maps” to track sunspots, solar flares, and other phenomena. Now, Kottke writes,

Artist and programmer Jeff Thompson has compiled 15,000 hand-drawn maps of the Sun made by astronomers into a single video, creating a mesmerizing and delightfully makeshift stop-motion animation of the Sun’s activity over the last 43 years.

[YouTube]