Stunning photo of the Sun erupting in fiery rage captured by space probe

As the Sun approaches its peak in activity a space probe has snapped an incredible photograph of the intensity increasing on the solar surface.

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The peak in solar activity is called the solar maximum, and it's the height of an 11-year solar cycle. During this period, the Sun's strong magnetic fields shift more frequently, which creates sunspots, flares, explosions, loops of plasma, and swirls of superheated gas. The above and below images were snapped by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument equipped to the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter space probe.

According to the space agency, the most recent solar minimum occurred in December 2019, which is a time when the Sun's activity is at its lowest, as showcased by the image snapped in February 2021. The ESA writes on its website that the solar maximum is expected to take place sometime in 2025, with some astronomers predicting the solar maximum could arrive even earlier given how active the Sun has been.

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While you may think the Sun raging by itself out in the depths of space is trivial, that is hardly the case, as the activity of the Sun can and has directly affected Earth. The ESA writes that extreme solar eruptions can damage ground-based electricity grids, disable satellites, and cause radio blackouts.

"The Sun goes through a cycle of activity that lasts around 11 years. It is caused by the 'solar dynamo', the process that generates the Sun's magnetic field. At the beginning of this cycle (the solar minimum) there is relatively little activity and few sunspots. Activity steadily increases until it peaks (the solar maximum) and then decreases again to a minimum," writes the ESA