Mount St. Helens From Space

Mt. St. Helens as seen from space, you can see the IR hot spots in the caldera.

This ASTER image of Mount St. Helens was captured one week after the March 8 ash and steam eruption, the latest activity since the volcano’s reawakening in September 2004. The new lava dome in the southeast part of the crater is clearly visible, highlighted by red areas where ASTER’s infrared channels detected hot spots from incandescent lava. The new lava dome is 500 feet higher than the old lava dome, and still growing. In this band combination, vegetation is green, snow is light blue, and bare rocks are tan.

ASTER Image Gallery: Mount St. Helens