A massive tornado has been filmed tearing across the surface of the sun during a 40-hour tempest.

The superheated mass of ionised plasma was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, operated by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

According to NASA, the complex plasma "was stretched and pulled back and forth by powerful magnetic forces but not ripped apart in this sequence", which occurred from September 1 to 3.

The plasma, made up of iron particles stripped of some electrons, would have been about 2.8 million degrees.