Mount Etna Eruption and Red Sun
January 28, 2019
Photographer: Giuseppe Pappa
Summary Authors: Giuseppe Pappa; Jim Foster
The photos above show last month's eruption of Mount Etna as viewed from Pedara, Sicily (Italy). At 10,900 ft (3,330 m), Mount Etna is Europe's highest active volcano. On the top photo, a panoramic view of the eruption, the dust and ash plume extends from east to west covering much of the sky. The red dot at left center is the Sun. On the close up (bottom photo), the Sun looks like the planet Mars.
The particles in the plume were of the right size (perhaps on the order of 0.002 mm diameter) to scatter out the shorter wavelength colors (yellows, greens and blues). So the Sun appeared as it might just at sunset on a hazy summer's day. Photos taken on December 27, 2018.
Photo Details: Camera: Canon EOS 760D; Software: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows; Exposure Time: 0.0020s (1/500); Aperture: ƒ/8.0; ISO equivalent: 100; Focal Length: 75.0mm; Lens: EF75-300mm f/4-5.6. For the panoramic image, a composition of 4 pictures, I used an 18 mm lens.
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