You might have seen fantastic images of the sun before , or even clips showing its activity - but you ’ ve never seen anything like this . An incredible video has stitched together footage from a Nasa spacecraft , revealed the beauty of the solar surface as it bursts with energy . Taken over five years , the footage includes plasma raining down on the sun , an extreme solar eruption and even a comet breezing through the sun ’ s atmosphere . Scroll down for video . Filmmaker Michael König from Cologne , Germany has created an amazing video showing solar activity ( shown ) . It was made by stitching together footage from Nasa 's Solar Dynamics Observatory over five years . The movie , called Sun , was created by filmmaker Michael König from Cologne , Germany . It uses footage recorded by Nasa ’ s Solar Dynamics Observatory ( SDO ) spacecraft between 2011 and 2015 . ‘ This montage features excerpts of 4K full-disk pictures in extreme ultraviolet channels , ’ explained Mr König , and it ‘ offers a glance at spicules , solar flares , filaments and an overview of the sun ’ s atmosphere. ’ Highlights of the video include large , bright tendrils extending outward from the sun ’ s surface and occasionally crashing down again - known as solar prominences . Other fantastic sections show bright , active regions on the sun ’ s surface as magnetic fields send it into turmoil . Transits of the moon , Venus and Earth across the sun , as observed from the SDO , are also seen , while towards the end of the video Comet Lovejoy can be seen passing the sun in December 2011 . Another incredible part of the video shows ‘ coronal rain ’ streaming down onto the sun from a loop of material above the sun ’ s surface . Coronal rain is formed when hot plasma in the corona - the sun ’ s atmosphere - cools and condenses in strong magnetic fields . The plasma is attracted to the magnetic fields and condenses , slowly falling back to the solar surface over several hours . Nasa 's Solar Dynamics Observatory ( SDO ) , illustrated below , was launched on 11 February 2010 and has observed the sun ever since . It 's goal is to understand how exactly the sun interacts with the environment around Earth . By watching the sun in different wavelengths - and therefore different temperatures - scientists can watch how material courses through the corona , which holds clues to what causes eruptions on the sun , what heats the sun 's atmosphere up to 1,000 times hotter than its surface , and why the sun 's magnetic fields are constantly on the move . SDO also measures fluctuations in the sun 's extreme ultraviolet output , which provides the majority of energy for heating Earth 's upper atmosphere . Five years into its mission , SDO continues to send back tantalizing imagery to incite scientists ' curiosity . For example , in late 2014 , SDO captured imagery of the largest sun spots seen since 1995 as well as a torrent of intense solar flares . Another incredible part of the video shows ‘ coronal rain ’ ( pictured ) streaming down onto the sun from a loop of material above the sun ’ s surface . Coronal rain is formed when hot plasma in the corona - the sun ’ s atmosphere - condenses and falls back to the surface . Elsewhere , solar flares and coronal mass ejections ( CMEs ) are seen erupting on the sun ’ s surface , sending out huge amounts of energy . CMEs are the huge waves of material that are seen in images of the sun , and they can pose a threat to satellites in Earth orbit . Solar flares are flashes of energy on the surface of the sun , which are sometimes associated with CMEs - although their connection is not well understood . The video , though , is a reminder of just how beautiful , powerful and active our solar system ’ s only star can be . By watching the sun in different wavelengths - and therefore different temperatures - scientists can watch how material courses through the corona , which holds clues to what causes eruptions on the sun , what heats the sun 's atmosphere up to 1,000 times hotter than its surface .
Filmmaker Michael König from Cologne , Germany has created an amazing video showing solar activity . It is a very short clip but it shows the sun at its peak and then going down to minimum again in just one second!