                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2024 July 17

                     Villarrica Volcano Against the Sky
     Video Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Muñoz; Text: Natalia Lewandowska
                                (SUNY Oswego)

   Explanation: When Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, swings his
   blacksmith's hammer, the sky is lit on fire. A recent eruption of
   Chile's Villarrica volcano shows the delicate interplay between this
   fire -- actually glowing steam and ash from melted rock -- and the
   light from distant stars in our Milky Way galaxy and the Magellanic
   Clouds galaxies. In the featured timelapse video, the Earth rotates
   under the stars as Villarrica erupts. With about 1350 volcanoes, our
   planet Earth rivals Jupiter's moon Io as the most geologically active
   place in the Solar System. While both have magnificent beauty, the
   reasons for the existence of volcanoes on both worlds are different.
   Earth's volcanoes typically occur between slowly shifting outer shell
   plates, while Io's volcanoes are caused by gravitational flexing
   resulting from Jupiter's tidal gravitational pull.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

