Gallery: Volcanic ash seen from the space station

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured stunning images of a plume of ash drifting from a volcano.

The Pavlof Volcano, located in the Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan coast, is one of the most active volcanoes in the United States. It is 7 kilometres wide, 2500 metres high, and has several active vents.

Though the volcano has been relatively inactive since 2007, on May 13, it once again started erupting, sending an ash cloud 6,000 metres into the air.  The plume extended over the North Pacific Ocean. Astronauts aboard the ISS photographed the volcano’s ash cloud on May 18.

What makes these images unique is that satellite imagery typically photographs volcanic eruptions from the top down. The ISS crew was 764 kilometres south-southeast of the volcano, allowing them to take 3D-like images of the its plume.