APOD: Volcano and Aurora in Iceland (2012 Jul 08)

[APOD Robot]

Volcano and Aurora in Iceland

Explanation: Sometimes both heaven and Earth erupt. In Iceland in 1991, the volcano Hekla erupted at the same time that auroras were visible overhead. Hekla, one of the most famous volcanoes in the world, has erupted at least 20 times over the past millennium, sometimes causing great destruction. The last eruption occurred only twelve years ago but caused only minor damage. The green auroral band occurred fortuitously about 100 kilometers above the erupting lava. Is Earth the Solar System's only planet with both auroras and volcanos?

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[Sonja]

Though I appreciate the daily posts and especially the effort that goes into their presentation, I must tell you that photos with such blatant "credit" lines as the one posted today (Volcano and Aurora in Iceland, © Sigurður H. Stefnisson!) seriously detract from the experience. It prevents no one from reusing the photo, since such a line can be removed or at least cropped, and represents - at least in my view - yet another painfully annoying example of internet narcissism. Frankly, I'm not interested in the author of the photo, only the content. I hope you will consider this point of view when selecting APOD photos in future. Thank you.

[Ann]

Though I appreciate the daily posts and especially the effort that goes into their presentation, I must tell you that photos with such blatant "credit" lines as the one posted today (Volcano and Aurora in Iceland, © Sigurður H. Stefnisson!) seriously detract from the experience. It prevents no one from reusing the photo, since such a line can be removed or at least cropped, and represents - at least in my view - yet another painfully annoying example of internet narcissism. Frankly, I'm not interested in the author of the photo, only the content. I hope you will consider this point of view when selecting APOD photos in future. Thank you.

I beg to differ, Sonja. APOD always gives credit to the photographer, which is fair and proper. In this case the photographer chose to put his own name on his picture. That was his choice, and his name wasn't put there by the people responsible for choosing pictures to present on this site. Clearly they didn't think that his name on the picture detracted from the quality of the image, and I don't see that it does, either.

Ann

[Moonlady]

STUNNING!!!

The colors are very intense, maybe effect which the cam can choose?

Credits and Copyrights are rules for everyone which make sense, non webpage is allowed to show content and present it as owner of it. I even like to see who did the great job!
And if there is a link from the contributer, I also like to visit and explore

[Sonja]

Thanks for the lecture, Ann. I'm well aware of APOD's attribution policy as well as the fact that the author of the photo, not APOD, plastered his name all over it. Had you read my post more thoughtfully you might have noticed that I asked that some consideration be given of my point of view when selecting photos, not that APOD desist from adding taglines to photos - which it obviously does not do.

However you might feel about it, I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking it's more than a little ridiculous for the guy's name to literally dwarf the volcanic eruption in his photo. In any case, you missed my point: it's not about authors' rights, it's about the aesthetics of a beautiful scene such as the one in the author's photo. If you don't think the huge tagline detracts from the beauty of the scene, I'm afraid we have simply have different notions of beauty, which of course is perfectly fine.

Though I appreciate the daily posts and especially the effort that goes into their presentation, I must tell you that photos with such blatant "credit" lines as the one posted today (Volcano and Aurora in Iceland, © Sigurður H. Stefnisson!) seriously detract from the experience. It prevents no one from reusing the photo, since such a line can be removed or at least cropped, and represents - at least in my view - yet another painfully annoying example of internet narcissism. Frankly, I'm not interested in the author of the photo, only the content. I hope you will consider this point of view when selecting APOD photos in future. Thank you.

I beg to differ, Sonja. APOD always gives credit to the photographer, which is fair and proper. In this case the photographer chose to put his own name on his picture. That was his choice, and his name wasn't put there by the people responsible for choosing pictures to present on this site. Clearly they didn't think that his name on the picture detracted from the quality of the image, and I don't see that it does, either.

Ann

[Sonja]

Sigh, obviously.

I am in total accord with your statement, Moonlady, but you too missed my point. Please see my reply to Ann if you are interested in understanding what I was actually saying.

Credits and Copyrights are rules for everyone which make sense, non webpage is allowed to show content and present it as owner of it. I even like to see who did the great job!
And if there is a link from the contributer, I also like to visit and explore

[nstahl]

It's a striking picture and I'm glad it was used. I'm also glad most of the APODs don't have copyright symbols on them.

[Flase]

The name could be a bit more discrete perhaps. It has rather a large font size and maybe detracts from the æsthetic beauty.

[rstevenson]

I'm sure the photographer placed that large signature near the volcano quite deliberately. Now why would he do that? Perhaps he expected unscrupulous parties to try to steal and reuse such a stunning image, and he was going to make it very difficult to do so. There are far too many people willing to reuse other's work without credit. I don't object when a photographer tries to fight back.

Rob

[geckzilla]

It's still incredibly easy to "steal" an image. That's why I refrain from putting them on my images at all. It detracts from the work itself for 99% of the people who are just casually viewing it and for the people who want to try to use it for their own purposes it only adds a couple of extra minutes to the process. Of course, a lot of people spread images around without removing copyright lines. They just want to share it with everyone they know for whatever reason. So it is good for letting people know who made the image later on down the line. This one is definitely a tad big. And the resolution of the image is quite small, as well. Pretty standard for 6 10 years ago when it was originally published to APOD.

[orin stepanek]

To change the subject! I watched the videos; I was quite in wonderment of the one where firemen were spraying water on the lava flow! I mean; why even try! The building was going to go down regardless!

[neufer]

I watched the videos; I was quite in wonderment of the one where firemen were spraying water on the lava flow! I mean; why even try! The building was going to go down regardless!

Lava flow will take the path of least resistance.

Even incremental increases in lava viscosity by selective cooling might result in an amplified effect on the overall lava flow.

[Chris Peterson]

Though I appreciate the daily posts and especially the effort that goes into their presentation, I must tell you that photos with such blatant "credit" lines as the one posted today (Volcano and Aurora in Iceland, © Sigurður H. Stefnisson!) seriously detract from the experience.

I agree. Placing a name and copyright notice directly on an image is a poor aesthetic decision, and usually serves no purpose. I've done it occasionally for images that I know will be used in a context where attribution is lost, but generally not (and certainly not so obtrusively). APOD, of course, always posts copyright information and supplies accurate attribution, so there's no need for annotation of the image itself.

That said, I wouldn't suggest to the editors that they reject an image because of such annotation (although asking an author to provide a version without it wouldn't be unreasonable). I don't know if such a thing exists anywhere, but a sort of style book for contributors would be nice- not rules, but suggestions. Prefer no copyright or author annotations. Prefer a certain resolution for the source. Prefer overlaid annotated images when multiple objects are featured. Prefer north up images. And so forth... nothing that can't be disregarded, but things that can help make the APOD experience better for everyone.

[neufer]

Though I appreciate the daily posts and especially the effort that goes into their presentation, I must tell you that photos with such blatant "credit" lines as the one posted today (Volcano and Aurora in Iceland, © Sigurður H. Stefnisson!) seriously detract from the experience.

I agree. Placing a name and copyright notice directly on an image is a poor aesthetic decision, and usually serves no purpose.

[b][color=#0000FF][size=115]Abraham Ortelius' 1585 map of Iceland showing Hekla in eruption. The Latin text translates as '[i]The Hekla, perpetually condemned to storms and snow, vomits stones under terrible noise.[/i][/size]'[/color][/b]

---

<<In Icelandic Hekla is the word for a short hooded cloak which may relate to the frequent cloud cover on the summit. An early Latin source refers to the mountain as Mons Casule.

After the eruption of 1104, stories (which were probably spread deliberately through Europe by Cistercian monks) told that Hekla was the gateway to Hell. The Cistercian monk Herbert of Clairvaux wrote in his De Miraculis (without naming Hekla):

The renowned fiery cauldron of Sicily, which men call Hell's chimney ... that cauldron is affirmed to be like a small furnace compared to this enormous inferno.
—Herbert of Clairvaux, Liber De Miraculis, 1180

A poem by the monk Benedeit from circa 1120 about the voyages of Saint Brendan mentions Hekla as the prison of Judas. The Flatey Book Annal wrote of the 1341 eruption that people saw large and small birds flying in the mountain's fire which were taken to be souls. In the 16th century Caspar Peucer wrote that the Gates of Hell could be found in "the bottomless abyss of Hekla Fell". The belief that Hekla was the gate to Hell persisted until the 1800s. There is still a legend that witches gather on Hekla for Easter.>>

[Psnarf]

Steganography?
Sew! howcome when you click on the image, you get a smaller image?
The html code shows the linked image is 625px×444px while the main image is 960px×682px?

[geckzilla]

The image was sampled up for the APOD page. Clicking it results in the original.

[neufer]

Steganography?

Sew! howcome when you click on the image, you get a smaller image?

The html code shows the linked image is 625px×444px
while the main image is 960px×682px?

• In order to make "Sigurður H. Stefnisson" less obstrusive.
  
  So what is the constellation in the background?

. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_%28constellation%29

• What is the planet in the upper right corner?

Saturn

[Chris Peterson]

Steganography?
Sew! howcome when you click on the image, you get a smaller image?
The html code shows the linked image is 625px×444px while the main image is 960px×682px?

Clicking on any APOD normally takes you to the original image. The APOD main page image is usually sized to a specific fixed width for consistency. Usually the original image is larger, but not always. As you can tell from the fuzziness of the main page image today (especially the text) this is an upsampled version.

[neufer]

Is Earth the Solar System's only planet with both auroras and volcanos?

[b][color=#0000FF]The 8-km-high volcano Maat Mons is displayed in this perspective view of the surface of Venus, with the vertical scale multiplied by 22.5.[/color][/b]

---

Many Volcanoes Erupt Mulberry Jam Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure.

<<The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanism and has produced more volcanoes than any other planet in the solar system. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Even though there are over 1,600 major volcanoes on Venus, none are known to be erupting at present and most are probably long extinct. However, radar sounding by the Magellan probe revealed evidence for comparatively recent volcanic activity at Venus's highest volcano Maat Mons, in the form of ash flows near the summit and on the northern flank.>>

[Chris Peterson]

Many Volcanoes Erupt Mulberry Jam Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure.

I felt a sense of pressure growing in my mind as I read your comment, which was only relieved when I reached the end.

[Chris Peterson]

Is Earth the Solar System's only planet with both auroras and volcanos?

Certainly, both Mars and Venus have volcanoes... does this question refer to any volcano, or only active ones? There are no obviously active volcanoes on either Mars or Venus, but it's possible that both planets could still support sufficient tectonic activity to produce one.

(The links to auroras on other planets work, but the link attached to "Earth" is broken.)

[Boomer12k]

Fire, Ice, and SKY....oh, my!!!!

Neat Pic...

FINALLY got out with the Scope took some better shots of M57, and M27...well BETTER for me anyway....really great nights and weather here in the U.S. Northwest.

:---[===] *

[RJN]

The image has been replaced with a higher resolution version. The astrophotographer himself contacted me by email and offered the better image. Even though it is in the middle of the day, I decided to take the unusual step of updating the image. Therefore, the above discussion should be taken with this into account. I have also changed the "Earth" link so that now it points to a working web page.

Last, note that the copyright notice on the image is now smaller. I agree that this looks better. APOD has gotten email, though, from astrophotographers very concerned that their images would be stolen. There is actually evidence that this does go on.

Therefore, APOD has encouraged a small copyright notice be placed on submitted images to discourage this and allow better tracking. Yes, such a notice can usually be cropped off in under 60 seconds, but many people are lazy, and still others just don't know copyright laws and copy whole copyrighted images intact thinking it is OK, and then secondary copying becomes annoyingly harder to track. And the most important copyright notice is on the "click-through" image since the main page image has a text copyright notice right on it.

- RJN

[plantguy]

I am always disappointed when a new APOD can't be found. This one was first used on January 29, 2006.

[plantguy]

Actually, this is the fourth time. Previously 2002, 2004, 2006 and today.