TORONTO – Halloween may still be more than two weeks away, but tell that to the sun.
On Oct. 8, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured an image of active regions on the sun and strangely, they seemed to look like a perfect jack-o’-lantern face.
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The sun goes through cycles. It’s widely believed that the sun has already gone through its maximum — when activity such as sun spots and solar flares — is high. However, our maximum has been one of the weakest in history.
But Wednesday’s satellite image shows that even though activity isn’t so high, it doesn’t mean that the sun isn’t doing anything at all.
The active regions seen in the jack-o’-lantern face are complex magnetic fields that hover above the sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. They appear brighter because they emit more light and energy.
And in case you’re interested, seeing images in ordinary things is called pareidolia.
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