Taken in Chaiten, Chile. Update: National Geographic has the story.
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I think you need to revisit the title. It should read the other way around according to modern volcanic science: “Lightning Storm During Volcanic Eruption”.
“As clouds of toxic ash and dust tower into the sky, they ionise the air, generating an explosive electrical storm. Colossal forks of lightning spark around the noxious plume as it spews from the volcano’s crater, creating an image of raw, terrifying energy – as if the air itself were ablaze.”
The Associated Press paraphrasing and sensationalizing (it sells) scientists monitoring this event.
this has got to be the coolest picture ever!!!!
Matt, you are absolutely correct.
a simple nice pic would have done just fine i am sure but thanks for the science lesson i am sure that the photographer just saw a nice shot and took it shots like that dont come often so good job to the one behind the camera
Matt is right. You need to change the title. The volcano has caused the lightning. It didn’t coincide with it. The explanation given by Matt is much more interesting and you know…fact based.
Would be nice to get that picture in a higher res or HD. Can’t find it bigger anywhere on the net.
Whatever the title it’s a gorgeous photo of a spectacular event.
Don’t be a bitch.
The poster of the Info can name it anything they like.
Are there any high resolution pics of that?
We know more about Mars than our own earth and whats at the bottom of our oceans, Awsome photo !!!
way cool picture there
It’s pretty darned sensational either way round to be honest.
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/07/lightning-storm-generated-by-chilean-volcano-images/
“Lightning can happen as a result of a volcanic eruption. As the hot ash rises through the cooler atmosphere, transfer of charge occurs. This excess of electrons within the cloud makes it act like a capacitor, and should the conditions be correct, huge electrical discharges may be observed as bolts of lightning during volcanic eruptions. It seems that the Chaiten volcano’s recent activity has created the perfect conditions for such a show, allowing photographers in the region to capture some stunning images.”
The title does need to be changed.
I agree with Mr. Brown on this one, in my opinion, lightning storms are just a little more common than volcanic eruptions, but what do i matter.
Who cares what it’s called? It looks awesome.
Mr. Brown is right. Slightly inaccurate title.
I-m a geologist and I agree with Matt. Friction between ash particles creates static electricity. The charges are carried upward by the rising dust and gas. When the electric field strength is greater than the ionization energy of the air, the air breaks down and a spark propagates between ash cloud and ground or between different parts of the ash cloud.
This picture reeks of glory.
I think it’s pretty clear that the lightning triggered the volcano eruption, superheating the weak mantle where it hit and allowing the already high levels of gas and magma to burst forth. I don’t know where you armchair weathermen are getting your facts but this is a pretty common geologic phenomenon.
So what you guys are saying is that it is more of a volcanic electrical storm?? Well, I am sure you will be sure to state it that way on your own blog. In the meanwhile, lay off the nit–pickery!!
Tell you what, you guys manage to take a shot like that, and then you can give us a science lesson and name it correctly. Me? I’d rather just appreciate good art then get my panties in a bunch like you guys over a scientific naming mishap.
Who cares, look at the great picture.
Photoshopped
…
Just kidding!
Looks pretty hellish to me. Would like to have seen it for myself. That’s the sort of thing that would scared the hell out of the locals a few hundred years ago – the gods are angry! Sacrifice more virgins!
It’s true that this is an amazing photo, accurate title or not. Thanks for posting it!
There’s certainly nothing shameful about not knowing the science behind a phenomenon. But now that we DO know the science, I have to side with Matt and his band that the title ought to be updated to reflect his new knowledge. Given the URL (NYNerd), I’d think the author would agree.
It’s crazy that with a picture this amazing, people are bothered with the trifles of the title. Comment on the picture if you have to, but leave your perceived ignorance of the poster out of it.
Great find. Would love a higher res version for myself.
I am the INTERNET and require that the title of this article be changed. The internet is for truth and facts. Everything on the internet must be believed.
I’m a volcano and I agree with Matt as well.
FEAR MY POWER! I CAN IONIZE!
Matt is right, and all the people who say they don’t care, or it doesn’t matter are just showing their ignorance. It’s the facts that make a picture all the more interesting. But I guess that doesn’t matter to those who are just looking for non thought provoking entertainment.
By most definitions the picture is art and the artist can give it any title they wish. Perhaps ‘Thor loses it completely’ or ‘Another slight setback at the picnic’? In any event, the title as given, holds good.
i believe that the pic can be looked at either way, first being a long complicated voice of opinions on wether or not the title needs changed or second just being a neat picture taken at the right moment. Just my thoughts though.
How annoying you all are. The picture looks amazing and you are really concerned with a title that, at the end of the day, doesn’t really matter. Please pull your heads out your arses and relax a little.
Fantastic picture. For its own sake whether the title is accurate or not doesn’t really matter. However for students doing research it would be really cool if it showed up in web searches using the right keywords, etc. There is so much to learn and so little time. I would recommend changing it for easy later finding, but nonetheless I am awed!
here, here. these people have broken my heart. sad, to see something so powerful and beautiful, only to have the moment ever-so-slightly distorted by politics and semantics. what a sorry lot. on a better note, i am amazed by this image (and a bit afraid…)
I think that it should be titled to reflect the fact that whether or not the volcano created the lightning, God created both the volcano and the lightning, as well as all of you, and the internet.
Also, I created a double-helix out of peas and toothpicks in the eighth grade.
Let’s Whine about Grammar instead…
It’s THAN, not THEN, as in “A is better THAN b” not “A is better THEN B”, or as Cyanide said: “I’d rather just appreciate good art THEN get my panties in a bunch…” (emphasis mine)
Cyanide seems to be saying she/he likes to get his/her panties in a bunch, but only after appreciating good art.
I’m pretty sure they meant to say they’d rather do the art THAN the the panties.
And for all the whiners out there sniveling about the title, stop. You ruin the niceness of the picture with your whining. You should whine about the bad spelling and grammar instead, because more and more, bad spelling and grammar mistakes are making their way into advertisements, LED signs, Junk mail, even billboards. I mean, jeeze, USE THE SPELL CHECKER!
Whine about stuff that matters, like the Illiteracy of America.
:p
haha, leave it to the internet to produce a conglomerate of nerds… It’s a picture of lightning and a volcano, get over it and put the measuring stick away
I believew the flash from the camera caused the lightning which in effect caused the volcanic eruption. guess no one thought of that
the pic is amazing in many different ways from greek gods to the first testament; though the title is set by the artist and lays as is… and the science is that the ash and dust caused the lightening storm to occur… not vice versa.
I will go with Matt, but even from a marketing perspective the other title is better. It only adds destructive power to a volcanic eruption.
Actually, it’s a picture of my stomach after me and the guys went to this little cantina and ate hot wings and drank Coronas for a few hours……
Hey, morons, trying to teach you something about nature isn’t whining or nitpicking. It actually makes the photo MORE awesome to know that the volcano caused the lightening, rather than just being a coincidence. It enhances the awe, not lessens it. Since when was knowing something a bad thing?
I think we should elect Matt to be the next president.
So what’s the name of the superhero/villain that was just born?
the correct information should be available to educate or you mite as well say the picture is of king kong lighting his fart
who cares about the title…. the pic is great… and the photography is great
The title needs work. For maximum sensationalism, rewritten I would have the title this way;
An erupting Volcano begins to develop new lightening powers. Humanity surrenders to this new Vulcan overlord.
UFO
FIND OUT MORE AT
THEYLIVE.NING.COM
COPY AND PASTE
chicken and eggs over a bolt of lightning and a volcanic erruption,
id rather just appreciate the picture.
Artists prefer the artistic value of this photo.
Scientists prefer the scientific value of this photo.
It’s just on how you prefer to look at it.
to be honest changing the title at this stage would be a bit of a shame. i think the argument for the changing of the title is hilariously insignificant…i would hate for the name to be changed leaving this wealth of insightful comments obsolete. KEEP THE NAME THE SAME
(i have no comment on who is right, although i do find both arguments fascinating)
come to think of it, what i find even more fascinating is that people care so much about being right that they waste valuable time in commenting a picture with the intention of putting everyone else’s opinion to shame.
and then i wonder…why do i?