NASA released an eerie image that appears to show the sun with a smile!
While the official NASA twitter account referred to it simply as a "smiling" sun, the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council actually photoshopped a pumpkin into the picture- just in time for Halloween- making it into a jack-o-lantern.
The "face" is actually made up of splotches on the sun's surface that are cooler than the surrounding areas.
Science facts via KCRA:
"The dark areas that make up the facial pattern, however, are what are called coronal holes, which appear as irregular black patches when the sun is imaged in ultraviolet light or certain types of X-ray images, according to the space agency.
Coronal holes are not as hot as the surrounding areas and aren't as dense, making them darker in appearance. They can pop up on the solar surface at any time.
Their magnetic field structure also sets up coronal holes to release streams of solar wind, or charged particles, at speeds of more than 1 million miles per hour. These winds are powerful enough to reach Earth. Our planet's magnetic field, which acts as a shield, largely deflects solar wind activity, but it can disturb the atmosphere."
Here is the "Smiling Sun" photo:
photo credit :Getty