April 20, 2014
On the day you were born, another consciousness opened inside the cosmos and began taking notes.
Ash and Lightning above an Icelandic Volcano
Birthday · April 20, 2014
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APOD published April 20, 2014. Credit: Sigur�ur Stefnisson. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Why did a picturesque 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well-populated areas. The Eyjafjallaj�kull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on 2010 March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of a small glacier on 2010 April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into gritty glass particles that were carried up with the rising volcanic plume. Pictured above during the second eruption, lightning bolts illuminate ash pouring out of the Eyjafjallaj�kull volcano.
Image credit: Sigur�ur Stefnisson