Photos: A volcanic view of Augustine

A microscopic image of vesicular ash particles from the Augustine volcano eruption on Jan. 13, 2006. The ash sample was collected during the ashfall in Homer, Alaska, by John Paskievitch of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, which maintains a special page detailing Augustine's activity. Before this month, Augustine's previous eruptive periods occurred in 1976 and 1986.

The Augustine Island Web cam, located southeast of the peak on Alaska's Cook Inlet, yields images of the volcano. This photo shows Dave Schneider and Cyrus Read cleaning the Web cam's housing on Jan. 24, 2006. Alaska Volcano Observatory personnel discovered that snow and a small amount of ash had blown into the camera housing through vents designed to allow heat exchange.

Schneider fills openings in the Web cam's housing. On Jan. 24, the housing and camera were cleaned, the camera was attached to the mount using parachute cord, the heat exchange vents were stuffed with bubble wrap and gray foam, and the housing was resealed.

The Web cam on Kodiak Island points toward Augustine's summit. Augustine erupted at 6:48 a.m. on Monday, an event that marked the fourth straight day of eruptions and generated an ash plume that reached almost five miles into the sky above Cook Inlet.

The west and north flanks of the Augustine Volcano are pictured during a Jan. 29 observation overflight. Steam and gas on the mid- and lower flanks is from a recent deposit of volcanic-induced fragments on the peak's north flank.

A helicopter-mounted FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer) shows a collection of thermal and visible images on Jan. 24.