This is quite mind-blowing: Time-lapse footage compiled from 17,000 images taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory between October 14th to October 30th, 2014. The constructed footage is beautiful and awe-inspiring.

The footage also includes some spectacular solar flares and the largest seen sun spot in over twenty years AR 12192. Now here’s some more fun facts!

The Sun is a star but has no solid surface, instead it is a ball of gas consisting of 92.1% hydrogen and 7.8% helium, which (incredibly) is all held together by its own gravity.

In terms of size, the Sun is 865,374 miles in diameter, and sits at the center of our solar system, and “makes up 99.8% of the mass of the entire solar system.” According to NASA:

If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be about the size of a nickel.

As the Sun is not a solid body “different parts of the sun rotate at different rates.”

At the equator, the sun spins once about every 25 Earth days, but at its poles the sun rotates once on its axis every 36 days.

The Sun’s temperature is estimated at 15 million degrees Celsius or 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.

For best effect, watch this stunning time-lapse on full screen!
 

 
Thanks to Michael Gallagher!