

Impressive photograph of the Sarychev Peak volcano has been taken by the ISS crew on 12 June 2009. Sarychev Peak, named after the famous Russian explorer and hydrographer Gavril Sarychev, is a stratovolcano, one of the most active in the Kuril Islands. It is located in the NW part of Matua Island.
The volcano began erupting on 12 June. The plume is probably a combination of brown ash and white steam. Ash has been detected 2,400 km E-SE and 900 km W-NW of the volcano. Previously the volcano erupted twenty years ago, in 1989.
The photo has been taken with a Nikon D2XS camera. The image has been subsequently enhanced to improve contrast and lens artefacts removed. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Centre.
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