"The two giant spots look like whirlpools of gasoline," says photographer Larry Alvarez of Flower Mound, Texas. He took this picture on August 13th:

And what does a "crackle" look like? Gary Palmer caught one in a sequence of images he calls "Birth of a Filament." Note the dark and ragged cloud, in flight, propelled outward by some minor explosion in the heart of the spot. The big explosions are yet to come.

more images: from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK; from Harald Paleske of Langendorf, Germany; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from Dennis Simmons of Brisbane, Australia