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Satellite Spies Smoking, Hot Sandwich: Big Pic
May 2, 2012 -- A plume of volcanic smoke is seen
rising from the appropriately-named Mount Asphyxia volcano, located on
Zavodovski Island in the southern Atlantic. The image was acquired on
April 27 by NASA's Aqua satellite.
Discovery/Zavodovski is part of the South Sandwich Islands, a group of 11 British-owned islands located 217 miles southeast of South Georgia, off the tip of South America. Only 3.1 miles wide, the icy island is dominated by the 1,800-foot-high stratovolcano.
Aptly named, the sulphuric fumes from Asphyxia coupled with the stench of penguin droppings -- the island is a breeding ground for millions of chinstrap penguins -- can be suffocating for human visitors.
The plume is seen here snaking into upper-level winds where it takes a turn to the northwest. The other islands exhibit swirling cloud vortices on their lee sides, created by their disturbance of prevailing winds.
Discovery/Zavodovski is part of the South Sandwich Islands, a group of 11 British-owned islands located 217 miles southeast of South Georgia, off the tip of South America. Only 3.1 miles wide, the icy island is dominated by the 1,800-foot-high stratovolcano.
Aptly named, the sulphuric fumes from Asphyxia coupled with the stench of penguin droppings -- the island is a breeding ground for millions of chinstrap penguins -- can be suffocating for human visitors.
The plume is seen here snaking into upper-level winds where it takes a turn to the northwest. The other islands exhibit swirling cloud vortices on their lee sides, created by their disturbance of prevailing winds.
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