You may recall some months back we posted an article about NASA preparing to launch a new telescope to study the sun. Dubbed the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the spacecraft has since launched and is sending back images and video of its findings. The initial results are pretty spectacular giving scientists new details on the activities of our friendly neighborhood star. The folks involved with the program are even going so far as to compare the SDO’s impact to that of the Hubble telescope, which you know we’re big fans of. The quote below comes straight from the NASA website:

“‘These initial images show a dynamic sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research,’ said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. ‘SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics.’”

Pretty impressive stuff. Check out the original article to read more information about the SDO and to see a totally sweet video of the sun doing its solar flare thing.