Clear air during the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight on August 11 offered geologists a wide-ranging view of Kīlauea and a couple of the other volcanoes on the Island of Hawai‘i, with Mauna Kea visible in the distance of this photo beyond the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa. In the foreground are the Halema‘uma‘u eruptive vents, emitting a volcanic gas plume in advance of an expected fifty-third lava fountaining episode in the coming days. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight on August 11 passed low over the Kīlauea summit eruptive vents in western Halema‘uma‘u. This photo was captured looking to the south, with the north vent in the center foreground and the south vent behind it. The overflight crew also looked down into a third puka (Hawaiian term for hole) that formed after lava fountaining episode 52, situated just west (right) of the south vent. Though this puka has glowed in recent overnight webcam views, no lava or incandescence was visible inside today, while the north vent hosted a small lava pond deep within and the south vent was weakly glowing. USGS photo by R. Adams.