NASA took a fun photo of the sun smiling

NASA took a fun photo of the sun smiling

Even our star should have moments of good mood and joy. At least that’s how it looks in the image taken by NASA. Astronomers saw the sun shining with a wonderful, cheerful smile, in a sunny spectacle.

Of course, the “smile” we see here is not really a real smile. What we see are coronal holes (dark spots), where fast solar winds stream into space, NASA explains.


Is the sun smiling... or is it a joke to our brains?

It was also shared by NASA Sun on TwitterThis stunning image reveals that the sun appears to be positively radiant in more ways than one. This smile is nothing more than two of those coronal holes that look like sparkling eyes, while the third is like a profuse smile.

In fact, this phenomenon has to do with the crazy solar fluctuations that the Sun tends to show.

What's really going on here is a file pareidolia phenomenon, where we imagine seeing things like faces in random patterns. It's a trick of the mind, only this time being viewed on an enormous scale, the size of the sun.

As some concerned Twitter users have noted, the sun's face here doesn't just look like a smiling face. The special proportions of this cheerful smile bear a striking resemblance to the facial make-up of a certain legendary villain of ghost hunters: the man from stay crunchy marshmallow.

Yes, it really is a big coincidence. The phrase "separated at birth" comes to mind, even if it's just another example of people seeing something that doesn't really exist. But even if this is just a random, pointless confluence of mysterious solar physics, that doesn't mean we shouldn't laugh about it.

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So enjoy! And always try to look for the positive aspects of life wherever you can. Let the sun be your shining example.

By Chris Skeldon

"Coffee trailblazer. Social media ninja. Unapologetic web guru. Friendly music fan. Alcohol fanatic."