If you’re ever thinking about the meaning of life, or thinking everything is just too hard, just remember that one day, the Sun will consume our entire planet.
Once you see these up-close images of the Sun, it will be even easier to imagine Earth’s eventual demise.
The video was taken by the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter in 2023, and shows strands of energized particles leaving the Sun’s lower atmosphere as “coronal rain.”
There are also small eruptions of plasma dotting a fuzzy, “coronal moss” covered surface.
The massive columns of gas, called spicules, reached heights of 6,200 miles. There’s an eruption at the 22-second mark that was bigger than the size of the Earth.
The rain is relatively cool, at least compared to the background, which is around a million degrees Celsius.
The Solar Orbiter had to get super close to the surface for its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) to capture the images – roughly a third of the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
It also measured solar winds that flowed past NASA’s Parker Solar Probe later, allowing the agencies to compare notes.
The Parker Probe got closer earlier last year, but wasn’t designed to film videos like this one.
And the view is honestly incredible.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.