NASA astronauts on board the International Space Station have captured an amazing photo of a volcanic eruption on Earth.

The image shows a vast plume of ash and volcanic gases shooting up from the Raikoke Volcano's 700-metre-wide crater, at around 4am on June 22, 2019.

The volcanic plume can be seen rising in a narrow column and then spreading out in a part of the plume known as the "umbrella" region.

This is the area where the density of the plume and the surrounding air equalise, and the plume stops rising.

(
Image:
NASA/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX)

"What a spectacular image," said Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech.

"The ring of white puffy clouds at the base of the column might be a sign of ambient air being drawn into the column and the condensation of water vapour.

"Or it could be a rising plume from interaction between magma and seawater because Raikoke is a small island and flows likely entered the water.”

This is the first time the Raikoke Volcano on the Kuril Islands in the North Pacific has erupted since 1924.

After an initial surge of activity on June 22, which included several distinct explosive pulses, activity subsided and strong winds spread the ash across the Pacific.

Since ash contains sharp fragments of rock and volcanic glass, it poses a serious hazard to aircraft.

The Tokyo and Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers have been tracking the plume closely, and warned aviators that ash had reached an altitude of 13 km (8 miles).

Meanwhile, data from NASA's CALIPSO satellite indicates that parts of the plume may have reached 17 km (10 miles).

(
Image:
NASA)

In addition to tracking ash, satellite sensors can also track the movements of volcanic gases.

In this case, Raikoke produced a concentrated plume of sulfur dioxide (SO) that separated from the ash and swirled throughout the North Pacific as the plume interacted with a storm.

Carn said the plume has most likely reached the stratosphere - the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, above the troposphere - meaning it is more likely to have an effect on aviation and climate.

“The persistence of large SO amounts over the last two days also indicates stratospheric injection," he said.