The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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This image of the lava flowing from Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, was captured today at 10:45 GMT (11:45 CET) by the Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite.
Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and has one of the world’s longest records for continuous eruption. Today, however, there was a sudden explosion resulting in several people being injured.
The red hot lava flowing from Mount Etna can be seen clearly in the image from Sentinel-2A. The surrounding snow has been processed in blue to distinguish from the clouds.
Launched in June 2015, Sentinel-2A carries an innovative wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands to monitor changes in land cover and vegetation.
The mission is designed as a constellation of two satellites and its identical twin, Sentinel-2B, was launched just a few days ago, on 7 March.