Smiling sunshine: NASA captures shots of happy face on the sun

NASA has shared an representation of the prima "smiling", aft 1 of their satellites captured patterns connected its aboveground appearing to amusement a blessed face.

The US abstraction bureau posted the images connected societal media, writing: "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the prima 'smiling.' Seen successful ultraviolet light, these acheronian patches connected the Sun are known arsenic coronal holes and are regions wherever accelerated star upwind gushes retired into space."

People were speedy to marque comparisons with a assortment of characters and objects, including the Teletubbies baby, the Ghostbusters Stay Puff marshmallow man, a biscuit, a lion and a pumpkin.

One idiosyncratic wrote connected Twitter: "If Teletubbies chose a realistic sun, this would beryllium it".

While different said: "Seems similar each those young kids drafting a smiley prima successful pre-school were onto something..."

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory was acceptable up successful 2010 to analyse however star enactment is created and however it drives abstraction weather.

The observatory spacecraft measures the sun's interior, atmosphere, magnetic tract and vigor output.

SpaceWeather.com, which monitors each forms of abstraction weather, issued a informing nether the header "THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER", saying the smiley look was formed by holes successful the sun's ambiance but was "spewing a triple watercourse of star upwind toward Earth".

It said archetypal interaction with auroras could hap connected Saturday.

A star tempest takes spot erstwhile the prima releases immense bursts of vigor successful the signifier of star flares and coronal wide ejections.

These phenomena nonstop streams of electrical charges and magnetic fields toward the Earth astatine a velocity of astir 3 cardinal mph.

While that sounds somewhat scary, the effect volition beryllium much charismatic than apocalyptic.

When a star tempest strikes Earth, it interferes with the planet's magnetic field, creating auroras adjacent the Arctic and Antarctic circles - the bluish lights oregon aurora borealis successful the bluish hemisphere and the aurora australis oregon confederate lights successful the south.

Sometimes it tin beryllium seen southbound of the Arctic Circle truthful that parts of Scotland could beryllium treated to a airy amusement this Halloween weekend, with wide skies making Saturday nighttime a bully clip to bask the phenomenon.