Lava Sky

The night sky at the break of dawn over Kilauea, a shield volcano in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a World Heritage Site on the Big Island of Hawaii. Constellations Orion and Taurus appear at top and Sirius is in the middle. Planet Jupiter shines brightly on the upper left. Lower over the southern horizon is Canopus, the second brightest star in the Earth night sky after Sirius. From the photographer: “The towering smoke was lit by lava in the Halemaumau crater. Without the trade winds, the smoke rises up and makes a huge mushroom cloud like fixture, very challenging to frame it and expose correctly. The morning twilight helped to make some balance.” Click on the second photo to see another image of this scene.