<p><strong>This snapshot of the remote <a href="http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Pavlof.php">Pavlof volcano</a>—located about 625 miles (a thousand kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, along the Aleutian Islands—undergoing a massive eruption was captured from the International Space Station (ISS) on May 18.</strong></p><p>The ISS—nearly 220 miles (354 kilometers) above the Earth—photographed this snow-capped volcano at peak activity, belching an ash cloud 20,000 feet (6 kilometers) into the atmosphere.</p><p>This oblique view from space allows volcanologists a unique peek into the rarely seen 3-D structure of the giant ash plume, seen here stretching out toward the North Pacific Ocean. (<a href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/volcano-general/">See more pictures of erupting volcanoes.</a>)</p><p><em>—Andrew Fazekas</em></p>

Plume From Space

This snapshot of the remote Pavlof volcano—located about 625 miles (a thousand kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, along the Aleutian Islands—undergoing a massive eruption was captured from the International Space Station (ISS) on May 18.

The ISS—nearly 220 miles (354 kilometers) above the Earth—photographed this snow-capped volcano at peak activity, belching an ash cloud 20,000 feet (6 kilometers) into the atmosphere.

This oblique view from space allows volcanologists a unique peek into the rarely seen 3-D structure of the giant ash plume, seen here stretching out toward the North Pacific Ocean. (See more pictures of erupting volcanoes.)

—Andrew Fazekas

Photograph courtesy NASA

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