Following a pattern of intermittent activity occurring throughout 2008, the summit crater on Kilauea continued to release plumes of ash and volcanic gases on August 7. As the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead, it captured this natural-color image of the Hawaiian Islands and detected a “hotspot” at the Kilauea summit (outlined in red). Clouds occur over some of the island, and their brightness contrasts with the duller gray color of the plume from the volcano. The plume spreads southwest over the Pacific Ocean.

NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.

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