NASA Captures Orbital Images of Erupting Alaskan Volcano [PHOTOS]

NASA published images of Alaska's erupting Pavlof Volcano Thursday, offering a rare view of a plume of volcanic ash from space.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station snapped the photo as the orbiting laboratory zoomed past the erupting mountain from about 230 miles (370km) above. Pavlof, an 8,262-foot (2,518m) stratovolcano about 625 miles (1,000km) southwest of Anchorage, has been erupting since May 13.

The perspective from the ISS photos reveals the three dimensional structure of the ash plume, which is often obscured by the top-down view of most remote sensing satellites.

Aviation warnings remain at orange, the second highest level, above Pavlof Volcano in Alaska as the mountain continues to erupt, releasing clouds of volcanic gas and ash skyward, occasionally breaching the 20,000-foot threshold considered to be a significant threat to transcontinental aircraft. Dozens of regional flights have been canceled due to the ash, the Associated Press reported, but the ash has not risen high enough to threaten international air traffic passing over the volcano-laden Aleutian arc.

On Sunday, the Alaskan Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported a plume of steam, ash and gas occasionally reaching as high as 22,000 feet (6.7km) above sea level and residents of Sand Point, a city of 1,000 people about not far east of the volcano, reported ash from Mt. Pavlof covering their cars.

For the aviation warning to be elevated from orange to the highest level, red, ash would have to rise to 30,000 feet (9.1km), the AVO's Kristi Wallace told the Associated Press.

When Pavlof last erupted in 2007, the event lasted 29 days. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the region, having erupted 40 times since record keeping began.

"The 2007 eruption was, perhaps, short compared to past eruption in historical times. It's most common that eruptions at Pavlof go on for months," said Wallace.

Astronauts snapped these images from 475 miles (764km) south-southeast of the volcano on May 18 using a Nikon D3S digital camera, according to Mashable. 

All photos credit: NASA