The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory caught a rare moment of happiness this week, as it released an image showing the sun ‘smiling’. Though for those who have been observing the sun closely it won’t come as much of a surprise. The Sun has been known to smile on Earth fairly often over the last few years, usually following solar flares. This time around it happened over Portugal and caused scientists from all over Europe to marvel at how closely aligned the satellite images matched up with reality.
The image released by the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a large coronal hole aligned just right with magnetic North, causing the sun’s ‘grin’ to be particularly pronounced. Scientists say that when the coronal hole caused charged particles to flow into Earth’s upper atmosphere they triggered strong geomagnetic storms, which resulted in a brilliant show of aurora in Europe.
As Coronal holes are regions where very little solar activity takes place and seem to be caused by magnetic loops, their existence is perfectly normal. Some of them are so powerful that ejections from these areas can send huge clouds of solar plasma out into space at speeds up to 600 km/h.
It is the first time that the coronal hole has been recorded in such a way that it shows the coronal hole ‘smile’ so distinctly.
Both amateur and professional photographers have captured images of the sun over Europe recently, showing some spectacular aurora displays but these are rarely captured from an angle where both can be seen.
Closer to home, a number of Coronal Holes have been observed over Brisbane and Sydney, sparking observations from all across Australia.
“In June last year I saw a beautiful aurora at Newcastle beach in NSW on a cold crisp clear night,” said one solar observer.
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