The Smiling Sun Hole: A Look at One of the Sun's Most Fascinating Features
The sun is a hot ball of plasma, and its surface is constantly churning with activity. One of the most interesting features of the sun's surface are sun holes. Sun holes are dark regions on the sun's surface that are much cooler than the surrounding area. They are caused by magnetic fields that open up to space, allowing the hot plasma to escape. Sun holes are typically found at the poles of the sun, but they can also be found at lower latitudes. They can be very large, sometimes reaching up to 20 times the size of Earth. Sun holes are important because they can affect the solar wind. The solar wind is a stream of charged particles that flows from the sun out into space. Sun holes can cause the solar wind to become faster and more turbulent. This can lead to geomagnetic storms on Earth, which can disrupt power grids and communications systems. In 2023, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an image of a sun hole that looked like a smiling face. The image quickly went...
