An Erupting Volcano Photographed From Space

Photo courtesy of NASA.
Today's picture features an erupting Mt. Cleveland volcano (located on the Aleutian island of Chuginadak) photographed from space - an unusual perspective for us earthlings.

On May 23, astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams was gazing down at the planet from his perch aboard the International Space Station when he noticed this plume of smoke and ash bellowing from one of the snowcapped peaks that lay well over 200 miles below him. He quickly grabbed a camera and snapped this picture. It's a good thing he acted quickly too, because the eruption only lasted a couple of hours or so.

Mt. Cleveland is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian island chain. As the Pacific tectonic plate moves northwest under the North America plate (a process known as subduction), magma is displaced causing the volcano to erupt. These eruptions often last for just a very short period of time, and the ISS just happened to be almost directly overhead during this one. What a great capture!

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