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A timelapse video of the sun over three years has been released by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) which captured the breathtaking footage and condensed it into just three minutes.

One of three instruments on board, the atmospheric imaging assembly creates an image of the sun every 12 seconds in 10 different wavelengths, giving detailed analyses of the sun at different temperatures over time. The images from the SDO also show space weather that can send radiation and solar material toward Earth and interfere with satellites in space.

NASA said these images provide scientists with a consistent stream of data to analyze and resolve various mysteries related to sun. If seen through the image, it can be witnessed that the sun shrinks and grows very faintly over the course of the video. This is because the images have been taken from spacecraft.

The images shown here are based on a wavelength of 171 Angstroms, which is in the extreme ultraviolet range and shows solar material at around 600,000 Kelvin.

The video below shows those three years of the sun at a pace of two images per day: