Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captures Sun 'smiling' as impacts of meteorite strike recorded on Mars

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured an image of the Sun "smiling". 

The space agency tweeted an image of the Sun in ultraviolet light with dark patches resembling a smile. 

"These dark patches on the Sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space," NASA said on Twitter.

The observatory is the first mission to be launched for NASA's Living With a Star program, which is designed to understand the causes of solar variability and its impact on Earth.

NASA says the observatory's goal is to understand the solar variations that influence life on Earth and humanity's technological systems by determining how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured and how its magnetic energy is converted and released as solar wind and energetic particles.

Meteorite caused giant Martian quake

Meanwhile, scientists have discovered a meteorite strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars was the cause of a magnitude four marsquake detected on the planet in December last year.

The meteorite excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before. 

According to NASA, scientists determined the quake resulted from a meteorite impact when they looked at before-and-after images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and spotted a new, yawning crater.

The meteorite is estimated to have spanned five to 12 metres and will have implications for NASA's plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.

The marsquake was captured by NASA's InSight Lander and is believed to have resulted in one of the largest craters ever witnessed forming any place in the solar system, according to NASA. 

Brown University's Ingrid Daubar who leads InSight's Impact Science Working Group said it was unprecedented to discover a fresh impact of this size.

 "It's an exciting moment in geologic history, and we got to witness it."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.