Happy Halloween from the center of the solar system! It seems like everyone’s got their spook on, even the Sun. Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration aka NASA shared a photo of jack-o’-lantern Sun on its social media accounts. The photo features the Sun which appears like it is sporting an evil grin. We have to say, the similarities between the giant ball of gas and pumpkin are really uncanny.
Let’s take a Look at the jack-o’-lantern sun
“Even our star celebrates the spooky season — in 2014, active regions on the Sun created this jack-o’-lantern face, as seen in ultraviolet light by our Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite.”
The photo, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), actually made its first appearance back on October 8, 2014. The SDO is NASA’s first mission for its Living With a Star (LWS) Program, which aims to observe the Sun. In addition, the program also hopes to identify the causes of solar variability and determine its impacts on Earth.
The space agency relives this stunning out-of-this-world sight just in time for the spooky season. This image shows the active regions of the Sun which give it a Halloween vibe. According to NASA, these regions appear brighter and more apparent because these areas emit more light and energy. As such, they signify the complex and intense magnetic fields that hover around the Sun’s atmosphere.
Moreover, the photo also depicts the Sun in a combination of two wavelengths—171 and 193 Angstroms. These wavelengths show the Sun’s atmosphere or corona and its hotter region. As a result, this gives the Sun an orangey-pumpkin color that makes it Halloween-ready.
NASA has also recently spotted another eerie existence in space—a galactic ghoul. Well, nothing to fear because as it turns out, it’s just a head-on collision between two galaxies.
These two unusual sightings aren’t entirely a new thing for NASA.
Earlier this year, the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) spotted the Ultima Thule which appeared like a snowman.
In 2004, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) caught sight of a heart-shaped mesa on Mars.
Meanwhile, here’s what people have to say about the jack-o’-lantern Sun
