Satellite image captures glow of volcanic eruption in Galápagos Islands

NASA and NOAA's Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite recently captured an image that shows lava spewing from Wolf volcano, the largest and tallest volcano in the Galápagos Islands.

The glow of the new volcanic eruption was captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite at 1:20 AM local time (7:20 UTC) on January 7, 2022.

Another image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite shows the plume blowing west over the Pacific Ocean.

The images were shared by the NASA Earth Observatory on January 8.

Wolf volcano, the largest and tallest volcano in the Galápagos Islands, began erupting late on January 6, 2022. The Suomi NPP satellite 🛰️ captured this image of the glow of the eruption. Wolf last awoke in May and June 2015. https://t.co/1zqmfPJQBe 🌋 pic.twitter.com/ryjmbmgl9j

— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) January 9, 2022

According to Ecuador's Geophysical Institute, the volcano began erupting late on January 6, sending incandescent lava flows down the volcano's flanks and ejecting ash clouds up to about 3,800 meters.

Located in the northern part of Isabela Island in the Galapagos Archipelago, the Wolf volcano lies roughly 1,100 kilometres (700 miles) off the west coast of Ecuador. It last erupted in May and June 2015.