Volcano researchers are poring over an image taken from the International Space Station that shows a volcano in the earliest stage of eruption.

Taken as a huge plume of ash and steam billow skyward the image shows the impact of the shock wave spreading out in the atmosphere.

Nasa says volcano researchers are excited about the picture "because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption."

The main plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam, according to a NASA statement. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance.

The smooth white cloud on top may be water condensation that resulted from rapid rising and cooling of the air mass above the ash column. This cloud is probably a transient feature, scientists say, with the eruption plume is starting to punch through. The cloud casts a dark shadow to the northwest of the island.

The image, taken of Sarychev Peak on Matua Island on June 12, also shows a ground-hugging plume of light gray ash, probably a mix of hot gas and ash in what volcanologists call a pyroclastic flow, descending from the volcano summit. Pyroclastic flows — deadly to anything or anyone in their paths — are known to be up to 600 degrees and rush across the land at 130 mph.

Commercial airline flights are being diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake.

The site is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, northeast of Japan. The last explosive eruption from Sarychev Peak was in 1989 with eruptions in 1986, 1976, 1954, and 1946 also producing lava flows. =

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