For most of us, the sun is a big static yellow ball that helps plants grow and skin tan, but a closer look reveals a maelstrom of movement, storms and explosions. The magnetic field on the solar surface shifts constantly, impacting the conditions in the outer atmosphere, called the corona. Sometimes the fluctuations are dramatic enough to produce high-energy explosions, called solar flares, or even to release material from the solar atmosphere, known as a coronal mass ejection—events that last only a few seconds but that can disable satellites and disrupt power grids and communications equipment on Earth. NASA's new Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) combines the ability to take rapid-fire photographs of the Sun with the capacity to comprehensively monitor its electromagnetic activity. On May 14, the SDO completed its post-launch check and officially began its 5-year, $850 million mission. Here are some of the stunning new images coming from the observatory—and what they mean to humans.

Every 10 seconds, the atmospheric imaging assembly (AIA) uses four telescopes to take high-definition photos of the corona. Because of its high resolution and speed, NASA describes the AIA as "like an IMAX camera for the Sun." This photo, taken by the AIA on March 30, 2010, shows a prominence eruption.

The underlying cause of eruptions like this remain unknown to scientists. Prominence eruptions often remain anchored to the sun, but some give rise to coronal mass ejections.

The sun is made up of plasmas—extremely hot gases composed of electrons, as well as atoms of elements like helium and iron with varying numbers of electrons removed from them (technically making them ions). The plasmas differ in temperature depending on their composition, and each temperature produces a different wavelength of light. "The solar corona contains plasma at many temperatures because the heating of the gas by the magnetic field is extremely complicated," SDO project scientist Dean Pesnell says. Here, the AIA is zoomed in on a flaring region and has filtered out all wavelengths except 171 angstroms, the light emitted by a 1 million Kelvin (1.8 million degree Fahrenheit) plasma made of iron atoms, called Fe IX, that have had 8 electrons removed.

The hope is that the speed and resolution of the AIA, combined with the sensitivity of the extreme ultraviolet variability experiment (EVE) to the most variable and unpredictable part of the solar spectrum (called the extreme ultraviolet), will help researchers better understand how these complex heating patterns emerge. Here again the AIA is zoomed in on a flaring region, this time imaging the sun in the light of Fe XX, an iron atom with 19 electrons removed. The wavelength is 131 angstroms, and the temperature of the plasma is a scorching 10 million Kelvin (18 million degrees Fahrenheit). In this image, the colors were artificially intensified to bring out certain details.

Every day, the SDO sends NASA researchers multiple images of the sun, seen in each of 10 selected wavelengths. This one corresponds to 193 angstroms. These images are enhanced with artificial colors to more clearly differentiate them.

An image of the sun, taken by the AIA, with all light except that of 211 angstrom wavelength filtered out. The image is enhanced with artificial color.

An image of the sun, taken by the AIA, with all light except that of 171 angstrom wavelength filtered out. The image is enhanced with artificial color.

This image is a composite of the images taken at 193, 211 and 171 angstroms (the three previous images respectively). The artificial colors highlight different temperatures. The reds (about 107,540 degrees Fahrenheit) are somewhat cool when compared to the blues and greens (greater than 1,799,540 degrees Fahrenheit).

An image of the sun, taken by the AIA, with all light except that of 304 angstrom wavelength filtered out. The image is enhanced with artificial color.

Another three-wavelength composite, this time of images taken at 304, 211 and 171 angstroms.

An image of the sun, taken by the AIA, with all light except that of 094 angstrom wavelength filered out. The image is enhanced by artificial color.

An image of the sun, taken by the AIA, with all light except that of 394 angstrom wavelength filtered out. The image is enhanced with artificial color.

Another three-wavelength composite image, this time of images taken at 094, 335 and 193 angstroms.

This image, taken by the AIA, shows the sun in 4500 angstrom wavelength light, which is within the section of the spectrum visible to the human eye (about 3900 to 7500 angstroms).

The helioseismic and magnetic imager (HMI) will develop maps of solar magnetic fields, like this one, called magnetograms. The HMI will also examine the interior of the sun to help scientists better understand the physics of the sun's magnetic dynamo, which scientists believe is the source of magnetic fields on the surface.

In this image, taken by the HMI, the Earth is eclipsing the sun. Earth's atmosphere refracts the light, causing the sun's shape at the edge of the shadow to bend.