Astronauts See Mount Etna Volcano's Lava and Steam from Space

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this photo of the volcanoes Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli on Aug. 14, 2014.

Credit: Reid Wiseman/NASA

Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station have captured a one-two punch of incredible views from space of Mount Etna and another active volcano in Italy spewing steam and lava.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst managed to photograph both Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli from their positions on the space station earlier this month.

Gerst caught sight of the two Italian volcanoes and their lava flows at night, while Wiseman captured the mountains during daylight.

Both photos give viewers a different perspective of the massive volcanoes. The images were taken from the same angle, and thanks to that specific shot alignment, space fans can orient themselves to see the red lava flows in Gerst's photo.

Without the context provided by Wiseman's daytime image, the lava would be much more difficult to spot.

European astronaut Alexander Gerst uploaded this photo of two volcanoes, Mount Etna and Mount Stromboli, by night on Aug. 1, 2014. 

Credit: Alexander Gerst Twitter / ESA

Gerst has quite a bit of experience with volcanoes.

Before flying to space, he was awarded his doctorate for research he did investigating volcanic eruptions and active volcanoes.

While working toward his master's degree, Gerst also developed new techniques that could help scientistsbetter predict when volcanoes might erupt, according to ESA.

Mount Etna was actually the first erupting volcano Gerst climbed, according to a Twitter post sent out in July.

Mount Etna is the largest volcano in Europe, standing at 10,900 feet (3,328 meters) high.

It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but it hasn't had a major eruption since 1992.

The active volcano is almost always discharging gas, ash or lava.

This isn't the first time Mount Etna's active phase has been seen from space. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg caught sight of the volcano from her post aboard the international Space Station in October 2013.

That same year, Canadian astronaut Chris Hatfield also snapped an amazing image of the active volcano's ash floating through clouds and out to sea.

Both Gerst and Wiseman are about halfway through with their first spaceflight. They launched to the space station in May and are expected to return to Earth in November.

Mount Etna, Sicily: Ancient volcano continues to erupt - Video

Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily erupts again after exploding several times earlier this month. 

The caldera spewed out smoke and dust as lava poured from the most active volcano in Europe. 

It has been particularly active recently, after a new crater formed on the south eastern side of the mountain. 

Near-by residents were not in danger as this latest eruption continued. 

Report by Thomas Magill.

Sicily's Mount Etna blows perfect steam rings in rare phenomenon

Molten lava erupts violently into the air from a crater on the summit of Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy. 

The volcano has been quiet over the summer, but dramatically sprang into life over the past few weeks. 

The eruptions also appeared to change the volcano's vent geometry, causing it to produce a series of perfect steam rings - a rare phenomenon. 

Credit: Director / Videographer: Dr. Tom Pfeiffer, Producer: Jack Fletcher, Editor: Josh Douglas.

Mount Etna eruption lights up the sky over Sicily

An eruption from Mount Etna lit up the night sky over much of eastern Sicily late on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday.

The latest lava flow did not endanger any houses, and no evacuation was ordered.

Credit: BBC Chris Eakin

ESA ISS Astronaut image: Smoke Plume from Mount Etna

ESA astronaut on the ISS, Luca Parmitano, took this picture of Mount Etna issuing smoke from a recent eruption.

Feb 2013 video: Mount Etna erupts from 'new crater'

Europe's most famous active volcano has been erupting, sending plumes of ash into the air.

The activity at Mount Etna on the island of Sicily was reported to be taking place at a new crater at a height of 2,900m (9,500ft).

It is part of a series of eruptions, but the ash is not thought to have disrupted flights at the nearby Catania airport.

NASA Aqua /Terra Satellite Image: Sicily and Mount Etna volcanic eruption

Credit: NASA

Italy's Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, is spewing out plumes of bluish volcanic gas, as revealed in a recent satellite image.

The restive peak, located on the island of Sicily, has been erupting in spectacular fashion on and off since it ramped up activity in January 2011.

The mountain last spewed out fountains of glowing lava on April 24, and has been relatively quiet ever since.

Kilauea: Tiny Gravity Changes Show Magma's Underground Movements

Kilauea's current eruption is still going strong after 29 years.

CREDIT: USGS/HVO.

The secret movements of magma deep inside a volcano can be detected by tracking the subtle changes in gravity they cause.

Surprising readings from a Hawaiian volcano have researchers hoping to better understand volcanic activity through gravity monitoring.

Continuous gravity measurements of active volcanoes are relatively rare, with most results coming from Mount Etna in Italy.

"One problem is the expense," researcher Michael Poland, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, explained.

"Gravity measurements have always been a really expensive endeavor. The big users are oil and mining companies."

Now scientists have monitored the gravity at Kīlauea, a popular tourist destination on Hawaii's Big Island, and discovered a regular cycle of fluctuations that suggest magma is churning a kilometer (0.6 miles) below the surface.

The way magma churns in underground chambers below volcanic vents is key to understanding how persistent volcanoes are, and whether or not they might catastrophically erupt in the future.

However, what goes on deep under the Earth's surface is difficult to monitor.

One way to peer underground is by looking at Earth's gravity, the researchers said. Anything that has mass has a gravity field that pulls objects toward it.

The strength of this field depends on the amount of mass. Since the Earth's mass is not spread out evenly, this means the strength of the planet's gravitational pull is stronger in some places and weaker in others.

As such, the flow of magma from one place to another can be detected from above.

Most active volcano

"Kīlauea is the world's most active volcano," Poland said. "It's erupted almost continuously since 1983. It's a natural 'lab volcano' ―a great place to try and study something like gravity measurements."

The researchers installed two continuous gravity meters at the summit of the volcano in 2010. One was about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) northwest of the eruptive vent at the summit and recorded measurements every10 seconds, while the other was placed about 500 feet (150 meters) east and recorded data every second.

They detected gravity fluctuations that came in a cycle about 150 seconds long.

"There was no expectation for that kind of result," Poland reported. "That gravity oscillation came out of nowhere. It points to the idea that there's probably a lot of things going on in volcanoes, glaciers, wherever you look, but we haven't developed the tools to detect these sorts of things."

NASA Aqua /Terra Satellite Image: Sicily and Mount Etna volcanic eruption

Mount Etna is Europe's most active volcano. Aqua captured this image of Etna erupting on Oct. 28, 2002.

The view of Earth from space has transformed our understanding of, as well as our admiration for, the planet.

The data and images collected by Earth-observing satellites have been used in thousands of scientific papers, helped us better respond to natural disasters, improved weather and climate forecasts, enlightened us about our impact on Earth and captivated us with beauty.

One of the stars of NASA's fleet of satellites is Aqua. The satellite is named for its ability to measure water vapour in the atmosphere, water in the oceans, as well as ice and snow.

When it was launched on May 4, 2002, scientists expected it to work for three to five years but its six instruments have been functioning perfectly for 10 years, gathering 29 million gigabytes of data in that time.

One of the most useful and impressive instruments aboard Aqua is the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, which measures visible and infrared radiation, and produces truly amazing, incredibly beautiful images of Earth.

With funding for Earth-observing satellites on the decline, let's hope Aqua keeps going for 10 more years.