On June 12, 2009, astronauts aboard the International Space Station just happened to pass over Sarychev Peak. The volcano, located in Russa's Kuril Islands, was just beginning to erupt when this image was captured.
Here's NASA on the lucky shot:
This detailed astronaut photograph is exciting to volcanologists because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption.
The real star, though, as amazing as the image above is, is this GIF:
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