Italy’s Volvanic Mount Etna Erupts

Europe's tallest active volcano, Mount Etna, erupted for the first time this year Thursday, sending ash clouds 5,000 metres into the air. The eruption also sent lava flowing into the deserted Valle del Bove area.

Aviation authorities temporarily closed the Catania Airport in Sicily and limited air traffic. Flights at the airport were allowed to resume by midday.

Last year, the 3,329-metre volcano erupted 18 times, but there were no casualties and damage. The first eruption that spewed lava and ash cloud out of one of its craters occurred on Jan. 13, 2011 and lasted 1.5 hours.

From May 8 to 12, the volcano exploded many times and spewed a fountain of lava.

Saturn's Moon Iapetus covered in foreign dust

New views of Saturn's moon Iapetus accompany papers that detail how reddish dust swept up on the moon's orbit around Saturn and migrating ice can explain the bizarre, yin-yang-patterned surface.

The papers, led by Cassini scientists Tilmann Denk and John Spencer, appeared online in the journal Science on Dec. 10, 2009.

The new image in the left-hand panel of PIA11690 shows the most nearly complete view to date of Iapetus' charcoal-dark leading hemisphere.

The right-hand panel, which had been released previously, shows the trailing hemisphere, where wide swaths are covered by bright ice. The new three-panel image PIA11689 uses false-color views in increasing levels of contrast to reveal the reddish dust that overlays the bright-dark pattern.

Minimal enhancement was applied to the left panel, with increasing contrast added to the middle and right-hand images.

Credit: Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) News.