Published: Less than 20 min ago
Real-life Teletubbies sun or maybe a pumpkin grin just in time for Halloween?
A picture of the sun’s smile has aroused warm feelings this week.
But the smile is a little insidious – a solar storm could be on its way to Earth.
Nasa’s satellite captured the sun in a picture this week – and was met with a big grin. The picture was published on Wednesday on Twitter by the American space agency who wrote that the “smile” was caused by solar storms on the surface of the sun.
The photo was taken by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which is tasked with monitoring the sun’s activity because it can largely predict what the weather will be like in space. Among other things, the observatory measures what happens inside the sun, the atmosphere around the sun, as well as the sun’s magnetic field and energy production, according to The Guardian.
On Twitter, the image received many reactions: one user thought this was the sun from the children’s program Teletubbies, another compared the sun’s grin to a pumpkin around Halloween.
Sneaky smile
But despite his friendly smile, there is reason to be vigilant. Several experts warn that the black spots could be signs of a solar storm that could hit Earth on Saturday.
According to the site Spaceweather.com, a triple stream of solar wind will move from the Sun towards the Earth during the weekend and cause a solar storm. A solar storm deforms the Earth’s magnetic field and usually, among other things, can lead to increased aurora borealis.