When a volcano in Tonga erupted on January 15, it gave satellites their first glimpse at a plume of volcanic ash shooting into the mesosphere, the third layer of Earth's atmosphere.
erupted on January 15, it gave satellites their first glimpse at a plume of volcanic ash shooting into the mesosphere, the third layer of Earth's atmosphere.According to NASA, the Tonga event was the largest volcanic eruption since satellites began monitoring our planet.
It took the volcanic plume about 30 minutes to travel that high. Then a secondary plume rose more than 31 miles . Both are visible, in yellow, in the satellite imagery below. The upper part of those plumes turned to gas and dissipated almost immediately because of dry conditions in the mesosphere.