Current configuration of activity within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō

This thermal camera view from the helicopter shows the current configuration of activity within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. The view is towards the east. The east pit has hosted an active, circulating lava pond for several months now. The south pit enlarged to its current size just last Thursday (Aug. 30), and has two pads of active lava within it. The north pit also formed on Thursday, and was rapidly filled with lava which is now cooled. For scale, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater is about 250 m (820 feet) across (spanning the left to right edges of this image).