NASA's Jack-o-Lantern Sun Pic Is Halloween Gold
This time of year is known for its endless supply of tricks and treats, but the universe just handed us a doozy of a Halloween prank. On Sunday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) posted an image on Facebook of the sun doing its best jack-o-lantern impression, but what looks like a ghoulish costume donned just in time for the holiday is actually a totally normal phenomenon with a spooky twist.
Originally captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on October 8, 2014, the bright spots that make up the pumpkin’s face are actually a set of active light- and energy-emitting magnetic fields that exist within the sun’s atmosphere, technically called the corona. "This image blends together two sets of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths at 171 and 193 ?ngstr?ms, typically colorized in gold and yellow, to create a particularly Halloween-like appearance," NASA said.
This isn’t the first time the universe has played tricks on us. Earlier this year, a rare partial lunar eclipse made the moon appear red and was dubbed the super blood wolf moon, a creepy moniker that got stargazers’ pulses racing. This summer, Northern Lights watchers in Canada and Alaska were treated to a pink-hued ribbon that streaked across the sky alongside the now famous aurora, a little-known celestial phenomenon referred to as the STEVE (Strong Thermal Emissions Velocity Enhancement). And just today, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope revealed what looks like an eerie skeletal face that resulted from two colliding galaxies deep in space.
With the Solar Dynamics Observatory continuously monitoring the sun’s shifting phases, it’s certainly not the last we’ll see of haunting images like these, but if you want to relive the jack-o-lantern moon in all its fiery glory for many Halloweens to come, you can download a hi-res image here.
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