SPACEPHOTOS

Sakura-jima, a very active stratovolcano rising 3665 feet (1117 meters) above sea level, is located on a small peninsula near the northern end of Kagoshima Bay along the southern coast of Kyushu Island. This closeup, near-vertical, infrared photograph shows two craters—one with an ash plume along the volcano’s southern flank and another farther north. The absence of red coloring, indicating little or no vegetation, confirms that the most recent lava flows occurred on the eastern flank of the volcano. The volcano’s Minami-dake crater produces an eruption with a minimal ash plume almost daily. The characteristic radial drainage pattern for most stratovolcanoes is observed for Sakura-jima. The infrared film helps accentuate the blue-gray urban areas and the pink agricultural and forested areas. Visible are the larger port city of Kagoshima west of Sakura-jima Volcano, the two smaller cities of Kajiki and Kokubu, and an airport with one runway along the northern end of Kagoshima Bay.