Mount Vesuvius from Aloft

August 23, 2015

Vesuvius HDR

August 2015 Viewer's Choice

Photographer: Kiran Chakravarti 
Summary Authors: Kiran Chakravarti; Jim Foster

On a flight over Italy this past spring I was fortunate enough to fly above Mount Vesuvius. From the air I could clearly see its caldera. This stratovolcano buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79 -- on August 24, or Sextilis 24 on the Julian calendar. Today, it poses a threat to Naples, seen at the top, along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Naples and other cities and towns nearby have a combined population of over 3 million. This high dynamic range (HDR) photo was taken on May 30, 2015.

Photo Details: Camera Model: Canon EOS 450D; Focal Length: 55mm; Aperture: ƒ/9.0; Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500); ISO equiv: 200; Software: Picasa.