SDO reveals the sun in all its glory

Launched on 11 February 2010, SDO is the most advanced spacecraft ever to study the sun Photograph: Nasa/EPA Photograph: guardian.co.uk During its five-year mission, the SDO will examine the sun's magnetic field and provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate Photograph: Nasa/AP Photograph: guardian.co.uk A filament of helium at approximately 50,000C launches into space (top left). Download Nasa video Photograph: Nasa Photograph: guardian.co.uk An 'eruptive prominence' blasting away from the sun. The prominence appears to stretch almost halfway across the sun – about 800,000 kilometres Photograph: Nasa/AP Photograph: guardian.co.uk Close-up view of a coronal mass ejection on 8 April ( download Nasa video ). When high-energy particles from CMEs and solar flares reach Earth they can damage satellites, disrupt radio communications and cause power outages Photograph: Nasa Photograph: guardian.co.uk Sunspots, 29 March ( download Nasa video ). Since its launch, engineers have been testing the SDO spacecraft and its components Photograph: Nasa Photograph: guardian.co.uk A filament of material launches into space ( download Nasa video ). SDO will provide images 10 times sharper than high-definition television and transmit data back to Earth faster than any other solar-observing spacecraft Photograph: Nasa Photograph: guardian.co.uk