Europe’s largest active volcano has been putting on a majestic display over the past few days.
Since April 3, Mount Etna in Sicily, an island in southern Italy, has been blowing near-perfect circles into the sky.
This activity coming from the “Mountain”, as Etna is affectionately known among Sicilians, follows the opening of a new crater on April 2 on the southeastern summit of the volcano.
These rings are made of vapour and are generated by the combination of rapid gas release and the vent shape.
This rare phenomenon was named “volcanic vortex rings” by British mathematical physicist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin.
The rings aren’t at all an ominous indication of an imminent eruption, according to Boris Behncke, a volcanologist at the observatory in Catania part of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.
Taking to Facebook, he explained to a fellow social media user that these rings are simply a sign of “an open conduct, circular and tight, through which the gas is shoot out in a pulsating manner”.
While Mount Etna isn’t the only volcano able to produce these rings, it is now creating a show “never seen like this before”, the expert said in a separate message.
Taking to X, he said: “Etna’s Southeast Crater continues emitting countless graceful vapour rings (“volcanic vortex rings”), a phenomenon never seen like this before.
“Someone said ‘maybe because we received so much bad news lately, Etna has decided to do something simply beautiful’.”
The rare and beautiful rings have attracted the attention of many social media users, who shared pictures and information about the phenomenon.
More than one Italian user on X renamed the “Mountain” the “Lady of the Rings”, with one adding: “A rare and unimaginable event for those who have been following for years the life of the Etna Volcano.
“Even the experts have been left thunderstruck by the many and continuous releases of vapour rings from the ‘Lady of the Rings” southeastern crater.”
With an elevation of 11,014 feet, Mount Etna towers over Sicily. Its activity has been recorded for more than 3,500 years.
