I visted "Mount Aetna" while traveling in Maryland, but I have come home to view renewed volcanic activity from the real Mount Etna in Sicily. Mount Etna is constantly active. It erupted spectacularly from 1999 to 2002, but after that it had not shown visible fire until recently this year. A couple of months ago, a fissure opened high on the mountain slope and poured out some streams of lava for a few weeks. That eruption ceased, but now the mountain is flinging forth fountains of sparks and fire from an old crater which had not erupted since 2000, the so-called "Southeast Crater" or more descriptively, the "Southeast Cone."

The Internet, source of so much good and bad, brought me back to the great volcano, whose distant fires I had seen with fascination in my childhood when I was touring in Sicily with my parents. There has been a series of Web cameras trained on the mountain for at least ten years. In 1998, I discovered the Web camera and quickly became a devoted volcano fan all over again. It was my first re-contact with the world of any science at all. I read up on anything volcanic and volcanological that I could find. That year, which was a rough year for me in many ways, was made better by my re-introduction to volcanology. And this contact, initiated through an Internet novelty, was my re-introduction to science in general and the scientific way of life led by the geologists I read about. It was volcanoes that first gave me a sense that I might have some scientific potential myself. My next entry here will mark the anniversary of a day which took me beyond volcanoes into the world of physics and mathematics.

I quickly initiated my friends into watching the Volcano-Cam too. We became volcano fans, and the mountain did not cease putting on wonderful shows. In 1999, Etna erupted on a regular schedule from the Southeast Cone, and every blast was delivered to us via the Web-cam. We used to call it the "Saturday Night Volcano," because for a number of months it erupted on a surprisingly regular schedule, every Saturday night. That volcano was definitely the life of the party.

In 2002, the mountain began a more general eruption, and it blew out a brand new crater very near Southeast Cone. We watched in amazement, but our viewing was to be short-lived. Not only did the ash and cinders from this new cone bury the old tourist observatory which we could see from our internet vantage point, but ultimately, the Web camera itself was burnt up by volcanic blasts. That's what happens when you put a camera too close to the volcanic action.

It wasn't till about 2005 that the cameras were reliably back online, but nothing happened onscreen other than puffs of steam and occasionally ash. But Etna would not be quiet for long. Now we can see the Saturday Night Volcano again. For the moment, it seems to be emitting steady, but low-intensity, bursts of flame and glowing rocks, known as "Strombolian" activity after Etna's smaller cousin Stromboli, rather than excitedly popping off its cork and gushing at regular intervals. It may fizzle out, or it may intensify into another blazing lava-fest. No one knows. But my volcano-fan friends are back watching, enthusiastically hoping that the mountain will put on some more shows.

You, too, can be a volcano fan! View the Etnaean fires at the "Etna Trekking" Web Cam. Remember that Italy is six hours ahead of the East Coast of the USA. The fountains of fire are not visible by daylight; you will only see smoke and steam then. Check in when it is night over there for the best effects. The camera updates its image every thirty seconds.

Posted at 3:02 am | link