'Campfires' burning on surface of sun

Images of the Sun taken with Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) and Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft are seen in a combination of photographs released by NASA. Photo: Solar Orbiter/EUI Team; PHI Team/ESA & NASA/Handout via REUTERS

Sarah Knapton

Fiery loops dubbed "campfires" have been photographed on the sun for the first time after a spacecraft transmitted the closest ever images of the star.

The Solar Orbiter probe, a joint venture between the European Space Agency and Nasa, is on a two-year mission to learn more about the nuclear furnace at the heart of our solar system, and the devastating space weather it produces that can wreak havoc on our communications systems.