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Etna eruption seen from the International Space Station
Taken on 30 October 2002
- Classification
- Photograph
- Museum
- Wikimedia Commons
- Credit line
- http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-5/html/iss005e19024.html or http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/PhotographyfromISS/ISS005-E-19024.htm
- Rights
- Public domain, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
About this work
ISS005-E-19024 --- The three-member crew of the Expedition Five mission onboard the International Space Station was able to observe Mt. Etna’s spectacular eruption, and photograph the details of the eruption plume and smoke from fires triggered by the lava as it flowed down the 11,000 ft mountain. This image and a second image (ISS005-E-19016) are looking obliquely to the southeast over the island of Sicily. This wider view (ISS005-E-19024) shows the ash plume curving out toward the horizon, caught first by low-level winds blowing to the southeast, and to the south toward Africa at higher altitudes. Ashfall was reported in Libya, more than 350 miles away. The lighter-colored plumes downslope and north of the summit seen in this frame are produced by forest fires set by lava flowing into the pine forests on the slope of the mountain. This image provides a more three-dimensional profile of the eruption plume. This eruption was one of Etna’s most vigorous in years, volcanologists reported this week. The eruption was triggered by a series of earthquakes on October 27, 2002, they said. These images were taken on October 30. Although schools were closed and air traffic was diverted…
