July 30, 2012
Every year, the Earth returns to the same point in its orbit where it was when you were born.
Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano
Birthday · July 30, 2012
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APOD published July 30, 2012. Credit: Sigur�ur Stefnisson. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Why did the 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