Upper: Photo captured on February 13, 2016 (before the eruption) from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Lower: Photo captured on August 18, 2023, from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.Two years after the eruption of Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands, some roads have been reconstructed.An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took these photos of La Palma island while in orbit over the North Atlantic Ocean. La Palma belongs to Spains Canary Islands, situated about 480 kilometers (300 miles) off the coast of Morocco and Western Sahara. The island is a basaltic shield volcano that is made up of two volcanic centers: the older collapsed Caldera de Taburiente and the younger active Cumbre Vieja.From September through December 2021, a strong eruption on the southwestern flank of Cumbre Vieja produced lava circulations, lava fountains, and ash clouds. The activity lasted about 85 days, offering astronauts aboard the space station the opportunity to catch photos of ash plumes and nighttime radiant lava flows.In total, lava circulations and ash covered more than 12 square kilometers (5 square miles) of La Palma extending 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the fissure to the coastline. The ash and lava damaged more than 3,000 structures and numerous banana plantations, and caused the yellowing of pine forests.These photos, taken in February 2016 (top) and August 2023 (bottom), show the landscape several years before and after the eruption. In the 2 years since the eruption, some roads have been reconstructed, noticeable as thin, light-colored lines cutting through the lava circulation. The roads reconnect the towns of Los Llanos de Aridane with Puerto Naos and other neighboring communities. The eruption fissure is evident in this image as a brighter, linear feature midway up the volcanic flank.Although not visible at the spatial resolution of these images, sparse trees and shrubs continue to grow amidst the deposited ash, consisting of the Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis). This fire-resistant serotinous conifer, endemic to the Canary Islands, counts on heat from fires to melt the resin enclosing its pine cones to yield practical seeds.Astronaut picture ISS069-E-62382 was obtained on August 18, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital cam utilizing a focal length of 400 millimeters. Astronaut photo ISS046-E-40929 was acquired on February 13, 2016, with a Nikon D4 digital electronic camera utilizing a focal length of 400 millimeters. The images are offered by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space. The images were taken by a member of the Expedition 69 team and the Expedition 46 team. The images have actually been cropped and boosted to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been eliminated. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take images of Earth that will be of the best worth to scientists and the general public, and to make those images freely offered on the Internet. Caption by Cadan Cummings, Jacobs, JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.
Upper: Photo recorded on February 13, 2016 (before the eruption) from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Lower: Photo caught on August 18, 2023, from an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.Two years after the eruption of Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands, some roadways have been reconstructed.An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took these photographs of La Palma island while in orbit over the North Atlantic Ocean. The activity lasted about 85 days, providing astronauts aboard the area station the chance to catch pictures of ash plumes and nighttime radiant lava flows.In total, lava flows and ash covered more than 12 square kilometers (5 square miles) of La Palma extending 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the crack to the coastline.