NASA video shows 3 years of the Sun’s activity in 3 minutes

NASA’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) has been taking a picture of the Sun every 12 seconds for the past three years from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). And now, they have released a time-lapse video showing all of those pictures compiled into one 3-minute clip.

“In the three years since it first provided images of the sun in the spring of 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has had virtually unbroken coverage of the sun's rise toward solar maximum, the peak of solar activity in its regular 11-year cycle,” reads an explanation on the SDO’s website. “This video shows those three years of the sun at a pace of two images per day.”

The video is mesmerizing, as giant solar flares erupt from the Sun’s surface as the gaseous body methodically spins.

You can view even more images on the AIA’s The Sun Today site.