The "Pumpkin Lantern" exploded 150 million kilometers away

Various Jack-o'-Lanterns are symbols of traditional Western Halloween. You may not expect that there are also cosmic styles.

Jack-O'-Lantern Nebula

Jack-O'-Lantern Nebula | Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the famous "Jack-o'-Lantern Nebula" taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The color of the picture is a false color synthesized by three different wavelengths of infrared light. It is not difficult to see from the picture why scientists gave it this name.

This nebula gave birth to an O-type massive star with a mass of 15-20 times that of the sun. The star's strong radiation and stellar wind swept the surrounding dust and gas outward, forming cracks and cavities in the nebula. The star illuminates them like a candle, making it a lifelike cosmic "pumpkin lantern."

Jack-o'-lantern nebula in different shades

Solar Pumpkin Lantern

The usually round and smooth sun occasionally turns into a ferocious and roaring "jack-o'-lantern", but it is only displayed under the ultraviolet band that is invisible to the naked eye.

Solar jack-o'-lantern on October 8, 2014 | Image credit: NASA/GSFC/SDO

These are photos of the sun captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in different wavelengths on October 8, 2014. Among them, this golden solar pumpkin lantern is a set of images taken with extreme ultraviolet light at wavelengths of 171 angstroms and 193 angstroms, rendered in false colors to highlight gold and yellow. The extreme ultraviolet band can see active areas and major structures in the corona.

The Sun on October 30 and 31 | Image source: SDO/AIA Composite: Su Yang

The sun has entered a new round of 11-year activity week, and will become more and more agitated. On the eve of Halloween, an X1-class flare just broke out on the 28th, and there are 5 large groups of sunspots active on the front of the sun. Take a look at the photos of the sun in the extreme ultraviolet band in the past two days. Does it look like a pumpkin lantern with a crooked mouth and small eyes?

October 30-31 extreme ultraviolet sun | Image source: SDO / AIA + JHelioviewer Processing and synthesis: Su Yang

After witnessing the wonders of the universe, you are welcome to come and see the silly pumpkin lantern made by the editor.

Rotating Editor-in-Chief: Su Yang

Editor: Wang Kechao