A spectacular image was captured showing both the lava flows from erupting volcano Mauna Loa and some light pillars. The image was captured by one of the International Gemini Observatory’s Cloudcams. The cloud cam operates 24/7 near the snow-covered summit of Maunakea (the highest point seen in the image), one of the other volcanos on Hawaii’s Big Island.

What makes the image special, however, is the fact that an extremely rare phenomenon is included. Lava light pillars are essentially the same as sunlight pillars but are only seen under the correct atmospheric conditions alongside an erupting volcano.

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