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5 amazing pictures of the Sun by NASA that will leave you transfixed
NASA regularly takes to Instagram to share incredible pictures of the Sun. From solar flares to orbital sunrise, these images will make your jaw drop.
NASA often takes to Instagram to share informative posts and awe-inspiring photos of our solar system's only star - the Sun. This dwarf star is 4.5 billion years old. A hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium, the Sun is about 93 million miles from the Earth. Due to extreme temperatures and radiation, the Sun cannot sustain life as we know it. However, it is intriguing how, without this star, life on Earth won't be possible either.
We have collected some of the posts about the Sun by NASA on Instagram that will make you go wow.
1. A flare for dramatic
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this solar flare image. "SDO's mission is to learn how the Sun affects the Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Sun's interior, magnetic field, atmosphere, and energy output," posted NASA.
2. Large bright flash
"The Sun appears orange with pink accents that arc around its surface, highlighting the storms and its texture. Black space surrounds the full disc Sun," NASA shared in a post.
3. Solar action
In this picture, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a "medium-sized solar flare".
4. Orbital sunrise
This incredible picture shows the Sun and a glimpse of our Blue Planet, Earth. "Pictured is an orbital sunrise from the International Space Station. Earth is filled with clouds and a light glow all around the rim at the bottom of the photo. Above the Earth is the darkness of space and at the top left corner is the Sun with a fierce beam of light shining with rays reaching toward the Earth. Circular lens flares cross the photo diagonally," NASA wrote about the image.
5. Glowing and churning surface of the Sun
"Our Sun may be old, large, and full of gas, but it also provides our solar system with energy and light, without which life as we know it would not exist. Its gravity holds objects as small as dust particles and as large as planets in its orbit," NASA wrote while sharing this incredible picture.
Orbiting in the centre of the Milky Way, the Sun brings together planets, asteroids, comets and other objects in our solar system. Since it is a gaseous ball, the various parts of this star rotate at different rates.
Also Read: NASA discovers potentially habitable 'super-Earth' 137 Light-Years Away
As per NASA, the Sun formed in a “giant, spinning cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. As the nebula collapsed under its own gravity, it spun faster and flattened into a disk. Most of the nebula's material was pulled toward the center to form our Sun, which accounts for 99.8% of our solar system's mass. Much of the remaining material formed the planets and other objects that now orbit the Sun. (The rest of the leftover gas and dust was blown away by the young Sun's early solar wind.)”
Eventually, our solar system's star will run out of energy. It will expand into a red giant star that will slowly engulf the two nearest planets, Mercury and Venus, and possibly Earth.
