MSGID: 1:153/757.0 49172545
TZUTC: -0800
CHRS: LATIN-1 2
                        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.

                              2025 February 24
    A slope of volcano is pictured with red glowing lava running down its
     side. A dark starry sky is in the background. Up into the sky a red
       column is visible. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                       Light Pillar over Erupting Etna
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Davide Cali+#

   Explanation: Can a lava flow extend into the sky? No, but light from
   the lava flow can. One effect is something quite unusual -- a volcanic
   light pillar. More typically, light pillars are caused by sunlight and
   so appear as a bright column that extends upward above a rising or
   setting Sun. Alternatively, other light pillars -- some quite colorful
   -- have been recorded above street and house lights. This light pillar,
   though, was illuminated by the red light emitted by the glowing magma
   of an erupting volcano. The volcano is Italy's Mount Etna, and the
   featured image was captured with a single shot during an early morning
   in mid-February. Freezing temperatures above the volcano's lava flow
   created ice-crystals either in the air above the volcano or in
   condensed water vapor expelled by Mount Etna. These ice crystals --
   mostly flat toward the ground but fluttering -- then reflected away
   light from the volcano's caldera.

                 Tomorrow's picture: stars between curtains
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
SEEN-BY: 19/10 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/305 134/100 153/135 143
SEEN-BY: 153/148 151 757 6809 7083 7715 154/110 218/700 840 221/1
SEEN-BY: 221/6 360 226/30 227/114 229/110 114 206 307 317 400 426
SEEN-BY: 229/428 470 664 700 705 240/1120 266/512 291/111 301/1 113
SEEN-BY: 301/812 320/219 322/757 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45 460/58
SEEN-BY: 460/256 1124 633/280 712/848 902/26 5020/400 1042 8912 5054/30
SEEN-BY: 5075/35
PATH: 153/757 221/6 301/1 460/58 229/426