Iceland | Onelargeprawn

Iceland Volcano Meets Aurora Borealis

Volcanoes have a fiery temperament. The aurora borealis paints the sky a pretty colour. Mix them both together and the sight will take your breath away.

Two photographers were at the right place and right time when the two phenomena met, and captured the most amazing images. Recently James Appleton, a Cambridge University graduate, was in Fimmvörðuháls, a pass between the Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers. Despite the inhospitable weather and warnings from local guides, he trekked to within 100ft of the volcano. Another photographer Albert Jakobsson also braved the biting temperatures in April to document the eruption, and was just about to leave when the aurora borealis occurred. They both captured the vibrant reds of the flowing lava set against the electric blue sky and green aurora.

The images are really incredible. See them after the jump.

You may (should) remember the volcanic eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull (pronunciation) in Iceland. The volcano spewed lava and sent out a plume of ash several kilometres up in the atmosphere. The lightning produced in the volcanic plume created a spectacular electrical phenomenon known as a dirty thunderstorm. For fear the that the ash may damage aircraft engines, the airspace of many European countries were closed off, leaving travellers stranded. One could not simply fly into Europe.

Air travel was disrupted from April 15th to April 20th and this data visualization shows the northern European airspace during that time.

For some fantastic images of Eyjafjallajökull, check out The Big Picture’s coverage here and there.

[via Gizmodo | KiTTGT]