Mesmerizing rivers of lava...

Vigorous new eruptions...

are occurring at Pu`u `Ō `ō and Napau Crater on Kilauea's east rift zone.  Track the latest at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory web site.

Vigorous eruption from vent...

in Halema`uma`u crater on Kilauea in October 2008, showing the roiling ejection of incandescent ash at 3X normal speed. This video was shown last night during an excellent lecture by Don Swanson of the USGS and I am sharing it here with readers of this blog.

Geology lecture in Spokane...

this coming Tuesday evening:

Historic and Cataclysmic Eruptions
of Kilauea Volcano

Dr. Don Swanson, USGS,
Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory

Date: 16 February 2010

Location: Spokane Community College
Lair Auditorium, Building 6

Time: 7 pm

The lecture is free and open to the public.

An image of Earth...

from space showing recent volcanic activity at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii in early December 2009 (click to enlarge). Plumes emanate from Halema‘uma‘u Crater (upper left) and Pu‘u O‘o Crater (center right). The smallest plume (to the right of Pu‘u O‘o) marks the Thanksgiving Eve Breakout Vent that formed in 2007.

Image credit: Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite, 11 December 2009.

How to photograph sunsets...

explained in a short article at Wired.com. This topic inspired me to post the image above, showing the Japanese Subaru Telescope and the American Keck I & II Observatories on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii during a magnificent sunset (click to enlarge).

Image notes: August 2007, Canon EOS 30D with Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens.

Bright glow at Kilauea volcano...

in Hawaii is emanating from an opening vent in the summit, suggesting that lava may soon appear in Halema`uma`u Crater.

Check the status of Kilauea from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory.

UPDATE: Here's an amazing Quicktime video furnished by the USGS and taken just days ago, looking down into the opening vent. Really, you should take a look (and it isn't Hollywood.)

Image courtesy Associated Press.

An image of Earth...

from space showing the Big Island of Hawaii (click to enlarge.) Mauna Loa volcano dominates the island, its black basaltic lava flows stand out in stark contrast to the surrounding lush tropical forests in green. A thin bluish-gray plume of smoke is visible near the island's southeastern shore, rising from Kilauea, the most active volcano on Earth. Just to the north of Mauna Loa is the dormant grayish Mauna Kea Volcano dotted with smaller cinder cones (in orange), which hasn't erupted in an estimated 3,500 years.

Image credit: NOAA Coastal Services Center Hawaii Land Cover Analysis project; NASA, 24 November 2003.

Signs along the road...

in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, at the Jaggar Museum, overlooking the Halemaʻumaʻu crater inside Kilauea caldera (click to enlarge.) If you're a serious geologist, put this place on your "to do" list.

A hot picture...

for a chilly winter day (click to enlarge.) Here we see two volcanologists approaching a vigorous lava flow on Kilauea volcano in an attempt to grab a sample of the ~1,100 C molten material. I snapped this image from a hovering helicopter near the new breakout from the Pu'u 'O'o vent in August 2007.

Just look at that new pahoehoe. Like I said before: every geology student needs to visit this dynamic volcano at some point in their life.

Because you asked...

I have posted this Kilauea update from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory for my colleague JT. Indeed, 2008 was an extraordinarily active year for the volcano.

Every geology student should put a visit to this active volcano on your "to do" list. There's no downside whatsoever - you have to go to Hawaii.