NASA Posts Mysterious Solar Jack-O-Lantern Image on All Hallows' Eve
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a project of NASA, has captured an intriguing image of the Sun in October 2014. The image, shared on Instagram by NASA, has garnered over 9 lakh likes and has been reported by NDTV.
In the image, the Sun appears to take on a face-like pattern, with dark patches known as coronal openings resembling a macabre grin. The image was taken in ultraviolet light, combining two collections of severe ultraviolet wavelengths at 171 and 193 Angstroms, typically colourized in gold and yellow.
The energetic areas in the image are markers of an intense and intricate set of electromagnetic fields floating in the Sun's environment, the corona. These areas are brighter because they send out more light and power, as they are places where rapid solar wind gushes out into space.
NASA maintains that the SDO has been maintaining an unblinking eye on the Sun since 2010, recording phenomena like solar flares and coronal holes. The SDO measures the Sun's inside, atmosphere, electromagnetic field, and energy output, helping us understand our local star.
Users on social media have commented on the image's striking beauty. One user wrote, "That's so stunning, therefore cool at the same time," while another remarked, "The universe is gorgeous." A third user even likened the image to a jack-o-lantern, stating, "The image shared by NASA on Halloween appears to depict a solar jack-o-lantern with a noticeable macabre grin."
The photo of the "grinning" solar face in ultraviolet light with dark spots known as coronal holes was taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) launched by NASA in 2010. Such ultraviolet images showing the corona and coronal holes are typically produced using SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instruments, which continuously observe the Sun in multiple UV wavelengths. The exact date of the specific "grinning" solar face image is not given in the search results but would be from after SDO's launch in 2010.
Despite its eerie resemblance to a jack-o-lantern, the image serves as a reminder of the Sun's powerful and complex nature, and the ongoing efforts to understand it better. For more updates on the Sun and other space-related phenomena, follow NASA on Instagram.
