The first-ever view of the Sun in 3-D has been captured by Nasa spacecrafts.
Two Solar TErrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, on diametrically opposite sides of the Sun, 180 degrees apart have produced the most complete view of the Sun.
One is ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind.
Impressive: Two aircraft, 180 degrees apart, have photographed the two sides of the Sun giving scientists the most compete image of the star to date
Shedding light: Seeing the whole Sun front and back simultaneously will enable significant advances in space weather forecasting for Earth
And Nasa chose the perfect time to release the pictures, with today being Super-SUN Day in America with the Greenbay Packers taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.
Seeing the whole Sun front and back simultaneously will enable significant advances in space weather forecasting for Earth, and improve planning for future robotic or crewed spacecraft missions throughout the solar system.
Launched in October 2006, STEREO traces the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to Earth.
It also provides unique and revolutionary views of the Sun-Earth system.
The mission observed the Sun in 3-D for the first time in 2007.
In 2009, the twin spacecraft revealed the 3-D structure of coronal mass ejections which are violent eruptions of matter from the Sun that can disrupt communications, navigation, satellites and power grids on Earth.
The STEREO imaging and particle detecting instruments were designed and built by scientific institutions in the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Dr Chris Davis, project scientist for the British research, said: 'The STEREO mission has already shown us some wonderful sights, solar eruptions arriving at the Earth to comets struggling against the solar wind.
'I’m very excited about this new stage of the mission and am looking forward to many years of unique observations.'
And in an interview with The Guardian, Richard Harrison, a scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Lab in Oxfordshire, and principal investigator for the UK cameras aboard the spacecraft said: 'The sun is not the smooth yellow sphere a lot of people understand it to be.
'It's complex, and a three-dimensional view is essential to understanding how it works.
'You can't really look at a little bit of the sun and hope to understand how it works, any more than you can look at a little bit of the brain and know how it works. You need the big picture.'
Knowledge: Scientists are hoping the newly-released pictures can help them better understand the Sun
