NASA Astronaut Spots Steam Flowing from Island Volcano

A steam plume drifts away from a volcano on Pagan Island, part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

CREDIT: NASA

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station spotted a steam plume flowing from the northernmost volcano on Pagan Island, part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

The commonwealth is an island chain of volcanoes that form the margin between the Pacific Ocean (to the east) and the Philippine Sea (to the west).

Pagan is made up of two strato-volcanoes separated by an isthmus, and it is one of the more volcanically active islands in the Marianas.

The island was completely evacuated in 1981 when a large eruption forced the small Micronesian community to flee (PDF Report), according to a NASA statement.