Spectacular video of the sun from new Nasa probe

Nasa's new Solar Dynamics Observatory, launched in February, has started sending back video of the sun - at ten times the clarity of the average earthling high definition television.

The video above shows a solar prominence, a plasma flare bound to the sun by its magnetic field. The SDO's five-year mission will hope to give us a greater understanding of such phenomena. More pictures of the sun can be seen here.

"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.

As well as the sun's magnetic field, SDO will also provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate.

Violent solar events such as solar wind, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, when directed towards Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in our planet's magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. Such events can disrupt telecommunications on Earth and cause power blackouts.

Fisher said: "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." ·