Jim McMahon/Mapman®
Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. A volcano in Indonesia called Kawah Ijen blows out plumes of blue fire! The surprising hue comes from burning gases belched from deep within the earth. These superhot gases escape from vents in the volcano. They catch on fire and burn blue when they hit the air. The glow can be seen only at night.
Many volcanoes burp up hot gases, but few are as colorful as Kawah Ijen. Its gases are rich in sulfur, which burns blue. What looks like blue lava is actually burning and melted sulfur flowing down the volcano’s slopes!