NASA Released a Magical Timelapse of 3 Years of Solar Beauty

For three years, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has been orbiting our planet, keeping its watchful eye on our sun, a star in our own backyard. During that time, we've seen amazing things: massive, absolutely massive, solar flares,the planet Venus transiting the solar face, and a mystifyingly beautiful phenomenon known as solar rain.

The video below compresses those three years into four minutes, using two frames from each Earth day. If you pay close attention, you'll notice two partial eclipses by the moon, several roll maneuvers the satellite undertook, and a few major solar flares.

Read more at The Atlantic.