The Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia is a relatively active area for volcanic activity, like much of the rest of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The Bezymianny volcano in the east-central part of the peninsula is the smaller of three neighboring volcanoes.

Bezymianny was thought to be extinct until it erupted from 1955 to 1956. Prior to that, it had experienced a period of 1,000 of dormancy. The 1956 eruption was comparable in size to the Mount Saint Helens eruption in 1980 and resulted in a horseshoe shaped crater that has since been filled by other, smaller eruptions and pyroclastic flows.

On Wednesday, Novebmer 25, 2009, NASA’s Terrra spacecraft captured an image of a smoke plume emanating from the volcano. Using the craft’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), the plume is clearly seen as is its shadow.

For a larger image of the volcano, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.