NASA boffins were left with grins on their faces after spotting the Sun “smiling” from space.
A photo of the hot star was snapped seeming to show a happy face, with a smile and eyes to boot.
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The surprising shot has caught the attention of the world, leading to comparisons with a Halloween pumpkin and even the baby-faced Sun from The Teletubbies.
It was pictured by the space agency’s special Sun-researching tech called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
But aside from all the smiles, the photo tells another story.
The holes you see are actually coronal holes.
These are where potentially devastating solars winds burst out.
The massive energy particles that come from them can trigger space weather storms.
These have the power to disrupt things like satellites, communications and power grids by disrupting Earth‘s magnetic field.
But solar winds aren’t all bad.
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It’s these that cause stunning auroras, like the famous Northern Lights.
“Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the Sun are known as coronal holes which are regions where fast solar wind shoots out into space,” Nasa said.
The image comes after experts spotted another strange human-looking feature in space.
A striking shot of the iconic “Pillars of Creation” was released earlier this month, which looked like a creepy hand reaching out.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
