The Solar Dynamics Observatory took these images of a large coronal hole on the Sun last week. Coronal holes are the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the Sun some three times faster than the normal solar wind. It’s not clear what causes coronal holes, but they correlate to areas on the Sun where magnetic fields flow away from the surface without looping back as they do elsewhere.
Image Credit: NASA
Perhaps a certain member of Team Kimberlin has interposed himself between the the SDO and that part of the sun?
If that were the case then I’m sure we’d be experiencing an ice age.