NASA SDO Spacecraft Captures Sun's Year-End Outburst - Video

The sun closed out 2011 with a flurry of activity, and a keen-eyed NASA spacecraft captured the dramatic outburst on video.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watched as our star erupted in dozens of storms during a 36-hour period on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30.

The probe's stunning video, taken in extreme ultraviolet light, shows spouts of plasma and intense flashes of radiation blasting from the solar surface.

"Magnetic forces were violently pulling against each other, creating the frenetic activity," SDO researchers wrote in an accompanying update. "By pulling an image every two minutes, the level of detail we can observe is amazing."

The recent outburst didn't produce any truly gargantuan storms. The most powerful solar flares, for example, rated in the M class, the middle category in scientists' three-tiered flare classification system. ("C" flares are weaker and "X" flares are stronger.)

Video: Sun Rings in 2012 With a Blast (or Two)