Russian Volcano Shocks the World

by Michael Reilly | June 22, 2009

In the pantheon of awesome images of explosions, this has got to rank pretty high. Astronauts floating high above earth in the International Space Station snapped this shot of Russia's Sarychev Peak volcano in the Kuril Islands busting through the atmosphere on June 12 (click on the image for full-size and see the movie they made here).

As NASA scientists M. Justin Wilkinson writes, conditions had to be perfect to get this shot -- there must be almost no wind for the plume to shoot so high into the atmosphere undisturbed.

The white stuff at the top of the ash cloud is probably condensing steam. And that halo of clouds surrounding the eruption is what happens when a powerful explosion rips into the atmosphere -- the shock wave literally pushed the cloud cover out of the way.

(Image: NASA Earth Observatory)

-Michael Reilly

Comments

[kieran]

Wow. Astonishing.

[Jami]

Are you kidding? thats not astonishing, it is down right scary. Has anyone noticed all the activity that been going on, this is just the start my friends we better get ready for the big one that isn't far away. In the month of March you might want to go and see whst happened that month, then just look to Alaska it is all happing too soon.

[Julian M Bucknall]

Pah, that's nuthin'. You can see it from Alaska.

[agatha]

Scary? I refuse to be afraid of Earth doing what Earth does. She was here first. Perhaps she's trying to shake us off, like a dog with fleas.

That IS an astonishing photo, and I'm very impressed.

[Nick Lewis]

"a dog with fleas" loved that comment. This is an amazing image nothing compares. I take my hat off to the guys for capturing this to share with us "fleas".

[Newb]

"

Are you kidding? thats not astonishing, it is down right scary. Has anyone noticed all the activity that been going on, this is just the start my friends we better get ready for the big one that isn't far away. In the month of March you might want to go and see whst happened that month, then just look to Alaska it is all happing too soon."

Posted by: Jami | June 23, 2009 at 04:11 PM

Take your tinfoil hat off.

[Deki]

Amazing art by nature ..:)

[kenneth McLendon]

Dog with fleas? The earth is a wise and crafty old man that occasionally lets out a little gas. That's what this photo depicts.

[ozone]

"like a dog with fleas" Quite a misunderstanding here, the analogy doesn't apply. Life on earth is not external to the planet and certainly not parasitic. Rather, think of the earth as a tree and life as the leaves and bark- part of one whole, the same system.

This is an awesome photograph!

[JohnAtl]

Actually ozone, the "dog with fleas" analogy is closer to the way things are. As agatha said, the Earth is doing its thing. The Earth doesn't depend on us for survival like a tree depends on its leaves and bark. There is no symbiosis, we are parasitic, take away the Earth and we die. The Earth would still be Earth if we were all gone. It's just a big ball of iron and rock with a thin comfy layer on the outside.

[JohnAtl]

It is an awesome picture too!

[S S Hands]

If you think thats downright scary and are scared of the rest of what this planets been doing since before its supported us then you should be terrified of some of the activities humans are doing. What sandhill have you been keeping your head buried in?

That is an awesome photo!!

[Summer]

This is a fantastic shot!

[DC]

I like the "Dog with Fleas" theory...Maybe we should go back to Mars, and leave the Earth the way we found it...Ofcourse that wouldn't mean much to the thousands of species that we have caused to go extinct during our stay here...

[John]

As usual my friends the Bible has the answer: Romans 8:19-22 "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."

[CJ]

With the existence of people like John above, its obvious the "dog with fleas" analogy needs to be expanded to include sheep as well.

[Sis Dorman]

I am sick of end of the world comments. Gaia (earth) is a living, breathing and changing world. I'm betting her newest eruptions are her effort to balance the global warming which is happening, no matter what is causing it. Look at the past ice ages and what ended them before you start talking end of the world.

[Rosi McBride]

The Goddess is smart. Things need to change, quickly, so they will. Scientifically, spiritually and physically, the change is here. Just like it was predicted. Get your head out of the bucket and look around, do some research. Grow. And remember, we started this, we fouled our home. For money.

[Seattle Slackers]

December 21st 2012 - it is all part of the end of the cycle.

[Tom]

I liked the dog with fleas bit. I am wondering what the mm's are on that zoom lens that took this picture. It's absolutely awesome. I flew Mt. St. Helens the day after and it was awseome too, but nothing like this.

[Peter]

We are not fleas on the dog, the tree example is much more fitting. Why? Because without life, the world would indeed be, well, dead. And specifically without human beings the world would be, well, insignificant. The only reason why anybody anywhere cares about the earth is because we exist on it. Without us the world would be like a tree falling in the woods, like a comet hitting an unknown planet, like a universe collapsing or forming- without anybody to care about it or perceive it, it is absolutely and utterly meaningless. I hate this bs about "the thousands of species" extinct since our stay. How about the millions of species extinct before we existed or the millions to come after we disappear? earth (literally) to crazies: its all part of the cycle. maybe we die and maybe the earth dies in the cycle; the universe will go on.

[Wood I]

You see pictures like this and it just proves how small we really are as people.
I can only imagine some of the powerful, positve quotes that will be attached to this picture.
Woody

[David Bowen]

This is just the beginning... This is a sign of stress of the earth's crust, atmosphere, and magnetic poles being squashed as we approach our maximum distance from the center of the universe. Global warming does not exist due to human impact. It exists due to the current shape of the atmosphere in relationship to the magnetic field of earth. Massive amounts of friction is being caused by a squashing effect between the poles. Readings in ppm within a cubic meter of our atmosphere 100 years ago would appear to be cleaner, and readings now due to our approach show higher levels/concentration since its becoming more dense. What we should really figure out is how much stress can the crust take at its weakest points not only at thin crust locations, but also which volcanoes will be forced to become active to expel energies during this compression. Hawaii has been active for how long now? will there be enough building pressure to awaken yellowstone? And if yellowstone errupts in chaos and ripps into the atmosphere like this volcano did on a grand scale the change in pressure would react violently with our bodies.

[Chelsea Craft]

Boy just reading the comments what strikes me most is the high level of ignorance the general population has about science & the natural world around them. The worst one is the know it all who thinks he's so educated he can definitively say that humans have had no impact that raised temperatures on the planet. Not one post here takes a macro view of the natural world around us & realizes it's far more complicated than just one socio-political view or another. The most inaccurate statement has to be the one about the planet HAS to have life on it to survive... that one is a doozie. Guess again. It's funny to hear people talking as if the planet we are parasitically existing upon won't out-survive us. Either schools are ripping off taxpayers by not teaching science properly... or a significant portion of our population just isn't evolved enough to "get it" yet. If I had to guess I'd bet it's the latter.

[tommm]

I think the Russians could use a few of those "man-made" trees to help clean the volcano cloud.