Orange Lava, Blue Lagoon

Lava encroaches on the Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination in Iceland, in this Nov. 24, 2024, Landsat 9 image overlaid with an infrared signal. The infrared signal helps distinguish the lava’s heat signature.

A volcanic fissure burst open on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula four days prior, heralded by a series of earthquakes. A plume of gas, consisting primarily of sulfur dioxide, streamed from the lava. The Reykjanes peninsula eruption is the seventh in a series of events that began in December 2023.

Image credit: NASA/Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership