NASA reveal photos of sun as never seen before

NASA have revealed a stunning set of photographs and videos of the sun showing its solar activity in more detail than ever seen before.

The images were taken from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) - a spacecraft specifically designed to study the sun.

Some show detail of material streaming outward and away from sunspots, while others revel extreme close-ups of activity on the sun’s surface.

NASA say it is important to remember that these solar activities directly affect everything on Earth and that each solar flare can explode with the energy of 100 megaton hydrogen bombs.

SDO will take high-resolution measurements of solar flares and when NASA say high-res they mean it -- each day it will send 1.5 terabytes of data, that's the same as 500,000 songs on an iPod.

"These initial images show a dynamic sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research,” said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics.”

QMI