Gigantic Hole spotted in the sun

[Wicious]

A gigantic hole, covering up almost a quarter of the sun has been spotted by a space telescope aimed at the sun and was observed by SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory). The hole, called a Coronal hole came into view July 13th - 18. The hole spews solar material and gas into space. According to NASA, Coronal holes are not uncommon, but this is the biggest they have seen in many years. Coronal holes are dark and colder spots of the sun, which can affect space weather.

I think it's pretty cool, what do you think?

Here's the source and a video of the hole.

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[Justice For All]

Reminds me of the transit of Venus across the Sun This is just as awesome.

 

[Wreckless]

My entire thought process while reading your post was just diminished as I thought, "Don't their eyes burn when they look at the sun in a telescope..."

 

[Wicious]

The telescope was placed on a SOHO satellite, so they didn't look in it with their own eyes.

 

[Justice For All]

I believe there is a filter on the lens too, because you can't look at the sun even through a satellite with regular vision and no lense filters. Well you could of-course, but it would just look like a giant ball of light. The filters such as infrared (which is what is used here I believe) x-ray, ultraviolet, electromagnetic, etc. allow you to view the different 'actualities' of the sun, such as in detail, the flow of gases, magnetic poles, corona etc.

 

[Aksel]

Being a kid, I was the only one that didn't want to become an astronaut. Now i want to become an astronaut soo badly. Very cool, imo.