WHERE LAVA MEETS OCEAN
~ Between Jupiter and Earth ~
A massive static electric lighting bolt flashes through the base of the plume where molten lava is pumping into the ocean on the Island of Hawaii.
Taken at the official Hawaii State Civil Defense lava viewing area on the Big Island, there is an excited crowd of people nearby in the shadows below, and that 'star' above is the planet Jupiter. The 3/4's-full moon is just off to our left and the moonlight is what has lit up the towering lava plume. To make things even more fun, the magenta/violet-hued color within the lower plume is a rare static electric lightning flash.
The massive column of steam, sulfur dioxide, glass particles, ash, rock and instantly created black sand are all generated from a huge volume of molten lava dumping into the Pacific Ocean out of a single lava tube that carried it from magma chambers under the flanks of Mauna Loa’s Kilauea volcano further upslope - on the Island of Hawaii.
Prints okay to 12x18 but does have some stressed pixelation, which begins to show more in larger sizes due to the conditions taking the photograph.
Photo taken at 8:45 PM on July 14th, 2008 HST – Island of Hawaii
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