Solar Dynamics Observatory

The extremely bright area at about 4 o'clock shows a solar flare from May 10 rated at X5.8. The image is rendered in a subset of extreme ultraviolet light.

Astronomy

NASA video: Solar storms are as impressive as the auroras they caused

While millions of people who couldn't normally see the aurora took in the recent color-filled spectacle in the night sky, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory was looking straight at the sun to catch the action. The fiery footage is well worth a watch.

Although we're not sure what causes them, coronal holes can have a dramatic impact on our magnetosphere

Astronomy

NASA peers into huge hole in the sun

While you might think the sun has pretty much just one weather pattern – blistering and violent with a chance of radiation poisoning – it can actually be quite varied. One of the lesser known weather phenomena on the sun's surface are coronal holes, a video of which was just released by NASA.

The ultra high resolution video was created from data harvested by the Solar Dynamics Observatory

Astronomy

NASA releases stunning 30 minute 4K video of the Sun

NASA has released a half hour video of our Sun in breathtaking 4K detail, created from images captured by the agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

Composite of 25 separate images of the Sun captured buy NASA's SDO (Photo: NASA/SDO/AIA/S. Wiessinger)

Astronomy

NASA squeezes three years of solar activity into a three minute time-lapse video

NASA has provided a fascinating snapshot of the Sun with a time-lapse video that squeezes three years of solar activity into three minutes of footage.