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The Sun Forms a Question

Dec 29, 2017
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed an elongated coronal hole (the darker area near the center) seeming to shape itself into a single, recognizable question mark over the period of one day (Dec. 21-22, 2017).

Oddly enough, an elongated coronal hole (the darker area near the center) seems to shape itself into a single, recognizable question mark over the period of one day (Dec. 21-22, 2017). Coronal holes are areas of open magnetic field that appear darker in extreme ultraviolet light, as is seen here. These holes are the source of streaming plasma that we call solar wind. While this exercise is akin to seeing shapes in clouds, it is fun to consider what the sun might be asking? Perhaps what the new year will bring? Guess what I am going to do next?

Movies
PIA22197_Question_mark_big.mp4
PIA22197_Question_mark_sm.mp4

SDO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), Palo Alto, California.

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