As long as I’m posting photographs today, here’s a real doozy (and one that I imagine will be of particular interest to Jen B., our resident geology buff, if she’s out there):
This is a short-lived eruption of Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands, captured two weeks ago by Flight Engineer Jeff Williams on board the International Space Station. Details about the eruption and the photo can be found here; a larger version of the photo is here. My thanks to Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy Blog for bringing my attention to this.
Like Phil, I’m highly dubious that the ISS is generating much value for its cost, but if nothing else, it is providing us with an amazing perspective on our home planet, and surely there’s something to be said for that…
From Mrs. Cranky Robert: “It looks like a giant zit.” I thought it was pretty cool, but I’m not an award-winning author (yet).
Hm. I was prepared to reply with something like, “Ew, gross,” but actually volcanos are sort of like giant terrestrial zits when you think about it. They fill with rising magma and distend the surrounding ground until it finally, er, well, pops. Whereupon all that stuff that’s been held under so much pressure comes cascading out. Yep, just like a zit…
On second thought, I was right to begin with: ewwwwww, gross!
Yeah. Ewwwwww.
Awesome!! And a much better image than I usually get from the Earth Observatory’s volcano page. (They get their images from satelites.)
Wow, that’s an excellent shot…
Glad you liked it, Jen – I was hoping you’d come by and spot it!
I wonder if the cool factor of this particular image vs. the satellite images you mention is because it was taken by a human being who has a flare for dramatic composition (rather than a machine that just points its camera downwards), or if it’s merely a lucky shot?