Gallery | Top Space Pix 2011 | Staring down an active volcano's throat

Nabro is a volcano in Eritrea in the horn of eastern Africa. In June 2011 it started erupting in a weeks-long event that was best seen from space, due to the remote location of the volcano. This false-color photo from the EO-1 satellite shows near-infrared as red, clearly showing where hot lava is erupting from the ground. The teal cloud is most likely water vapor from the eruption, with other gases seen as well. Pictures of volcanoes from space are among my favorite of all photographs, especially when they're looking straight down an active volcano's throat like this.

Image credit: NASA/EO-1/Robert Simmon; NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon

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