NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is designed to monitor the entire disc of the sun, 24 hours a day. It is capable of detecting 10 different wavelengths in order capture all of the sun’s activity in order to learn more about the generation and structure of the magnetic field and how the magnetic energy manifests into the solar activity that causes different kinds of space weather, such as solar wind.

SDO was launched from Cape Canaveral on the morning of February 11, 2010. In honor of its fourth year in space, the scientists working at the Goddard Space Flight Center have made a compilation of some of the biggest sunspots and the most massive explosions from the solar surface over the past year. One of the sunspots featured was imaged just about a month ago and is one of the largest in the past decade. 

If you would like to know more about each of the clips used in the video, Goddard has released a helpful viewing guide so you can learn more.