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(Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Wanmei Liang and Lauren Dauphin)
FAST FACTS
Where is it? Klyuchevskoy(Klyuchevskaya Sopka), Russia [56.050698, 160.6463962]
What’s in the picture? A huge eruption plume routing off an emerging volcano
Which satellite took the picture? NASA Aqua
When was it taken? Nov. 1, 2023
This spooky satellite picture reveals a “devilish” Russian volcano gushing out a 1,000-mile-long river of smoke into Earth’s environment. It is a striking pointer of the volcanic power caught within the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
The volcano, referred to as Klyuchevskoy (or often Klyuchevskaya Sopka), is an active stratovolcano in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, which is home to more than 300 volcanoes. Klyuchevskoy’s peak stands at 15,597 feet (4,754 meters) above water level, making it taller than any other volcano in Asia or Europe, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Worldwide Volcanism Program
The satellite image was snapped by NASA’s Aqua satellite throughout an especially active point of an eruptive stage, which lasted in between June 22 and Dec. 31, 2023. The abrupt flurry of activity launched twin lava streams, formed like a set of horns, and a huge plume of smoke, ash and hazardous gases that briefly stopped air traffic in the location.
The eruption plume reached an optimum height of 7.5 miles (12 km) above Earth’s surface area and extended more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) throughout the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory
The satellite breeze included above is an incorrect color image. The lava circulations have actually been improved utilizing infrared radiation to assist make them noticeable, while the clouds surrounding the volcano have actually been offered a blueish color to assist differentiate them from the eruption plume.
Related: See all the very best pictures of Earth from area
Klyuchevskoy is among 6 securely organized volcanoes in the Kamchatka Peninsula. In this 2013 picture, Bezymianny is the one gushing out a stream of smoke.[( Image credit: ISS Expedition 38 team)
Klyuchevskoy is among the most active volcanoes in the Kamchatka Peninsula. It has actually experienced a minimum of 18 various eruptive stages because the turn of the 21st century and blown its top more than 60 times in the previous 100 years, according to the Global Volcanism Program.
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The lofty mountain’s newest eruptive stage started in April 2025 and is still continuous, although volcanic activity had actually decreased by May.
Klyuchevskoy is carefully flanked by Bezymianny, a smaller sized volcano standing at around 9,900 feet (3,000 m) high. The neighboring mountain is less active than Klyuchevskoy and was formerly presumed to be extinct up until an eruption in 1955. It has actually given that emerged several times.
4 other volcanoes– Ushkovsky, Tolbachik, Zimina and Udina– lie within a 20-mile (32 km) radius of Klyuchevskoy. All of these mountains, consisting of Klyuchevskoy and Bezymianny, are thought to have actually formed within the last 10,000 years, which is reasonably young for volcanoes.
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a hotspot for volcanoes due to its position along the Ring of Fire– an approximately 25,000-mile-long (40,000 km) arc surrounding big parts of the Pacific Ocean basin, where tectonic plates converge one another. This huge ring, which likewise runs below Indonesia, Japan and Tonga, includes around two-thirds of the world’s terrestrial volcanoes and is the website of around 90% of all earthquakes.
Harry is a U.K.-based senior personnel author at Live Science. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to end up being a reporter. He covers a vast array of subjects consisting of area expedition, planetary science, area weather condition, environment modification, animal habits and paleontology. His current deal with the solar optimum won “best space submission” at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was shortlisted in the “top scoop” classification at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2023. He likewise composes Live Science’s weekly Earth from area series.
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