Nasa's incredible time-lapse video shows five years of the Sun condensed into three minutes

Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory created the time-lapse by taking a picture of the sun every eight hours for five years

The SDO was launched in 2001 and has since provided scientists with crucial images and data on the variability of the Sun's surface

Nasa has released an incredible time-lapse video showing some of the Sun’s most remarkable activity over the last five years.

The three minute video was released by Nasa on Wednesday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their Solar Dynamics Observatory, and shows the changing surface of the Sun from June 2010 to February 2015.

The video also captures some of the biggest sunspots that have been seen on the planet’s surface for almost 20 years.

To create the stunning video, the SDO team had to capture an image of the sun every eight hours during the five-year period, before putting them into the time-lapse.

Commenting on the video, a statement from the SDO said that they had created an “unprecedentedly clear picture” of how the Sun’s surface changes over time.

The agency said: “The imagery is captivating, allowing one to watch the constant ballet of solar material through the Sun's atmosphere, the corona.”

Since then it has continued to provide incredible images of the sun at nearly one every second.

The information taken from the images has also broadened the knowledge of scientists, with more than 2000 scientific papers being published on the back of SDO data.