NASA puts us up close and personal with the sun with ultra-HD video

OUR little star is so hot right now. NASA’s new close-up video of the sun’s swirling surface has been described as a symphony of thermonuclear art.

Timeless twirl ... The dance of magnetic storms going on above our heads right now. Source: NASA

IT’S boom. It’s crash. But is it opera? Don’t stare, but this 30-minute close-up of the sun’s swirling surface is being described as a symphony of thermonuclear art.

NASA’s press release announcing the ultra-high definition video of the sun is full of prose:

“It’s always shining, always ablaze with light and energy. In the ubiquity of solar output, Earth swims in an endless tide of particles,” the Goddard Space Flight Centre statement reads.

“The video presents the nuclear fire of our life-giving star in intimate detail, offering new perspective into our own relationships with grand forces of the solar system,”

It does little justice to the raw energy of the sun’s performance.

The footage combines footage from 10 different filters to build a picture we can actually see and appreciate — instead of having our retinas burnt out of our skull.

It was all captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) which was boosted into orbit in 2010 to keep a close watch on what our nearest star is up to.

The video is something of a ‘best of’ compilation of the Sun’s activity over the past five years.

As the sun is passing through the active peak of its cycle, there’s plenty to see.

To get a glimpse of what is going on, go to NASA’S The Sun Now website for a picture of what the SDO is seeing.