How NASA Photographs The Sun

In 2010, NASA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory, a spacecraft equipped with instruments to improve our understanding of our star's magnetic field, with the hope of achieving better solar forecasts.

The results of the mission, so far, have been as informative as they are beautiful. The images that the observatory has beamed back to Earth are sublime in the truest sense of the word - evocative of sheer power and with sharp contrasts. They also come in nice colors.