Europe's audacious Solar Orbiter probe has lifted off on its quest to study the Sun from close quarters.
The 1.5bn (£1.3bn) mission is packed with cameras and sensors that should reveal remarkable new insights on the workings of our star.
Scientists want to better understand what drives its dynamic behaviour.
The spacecraft launched aboard an Atlas rocket, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 04:03 GMT (23:03 local time Sunday).
The Sun will occasionally eject billions of tonnes of matter and entangled magnetic fields that can disrupt activity at Earth.
