The photo, which was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, was shared to the official NASA Sun Twitter account on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and in it, the giant star looked like it was smiling for the camera! However, scientists say that’s not actually the case, and the phenomenon was due to dark patches that just so happened to form where two eyes and a mouth would be on a smiley face. But the dark spots making up the sun’s “facial” features obviously have a much more scientific reason for appearing in the photo, which NASA explained in their tweet on Wednesday. “These dark patches on the Sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space,” the tweet read. According to USA Today, the Solar Dynamics Observatory is a satellite that’s been charged with orbiting around the Earth. Using its sensors that are pointed at the sun, researchers are able to “take a variety of measurements of the sun and solar activity.” Of course, internet users have been having a field day with the phenomenon, with many taking to Twitter to share funny memes and jokes about the smiling sun. “Seems like all those young kids drawing a smiley sun in pre-school were onto something…” one user joked. “What a ‘warm smile’…” another person wittily added. More News:
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