"A ticking time bomb" in Italy is playing hide and seek through a mysterious hole in the clouds: what's it all about?

Vesuvius is a stratovolcano standing at 1,281 meters, located near Naples along the western coast of Italy. This volcano is most famous for its powerful eruption in AD 79, which devastated the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, claiming the lives of approximately 2,000 people. The bodies of more than half of them have been well preserved due to pyroclastic flows, as noted by Live Science.

Now, researchers from NASA's Earth Observatory have shared a satellite image taken back in 2022, showing the summit of Vesuvius peeking through a "strange gap in the clouds." The researchers remark that the image appears as if one of the most famous and potentially dangerous volcanoes in the world is playing hide-and-seek with an orbital spacecraft through a hole in the clouds.

It is known that today around 800,000 people live on the slopes of Vesuvius, and in the potentially hazardous zone for future eruptions, scientists believe there could be up to 3 million people. As a result, experts consider Vesuvius to be potentially one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.

The satellite image reveals the caldera of Vesuvius—a large bowl-shaped depression formed by the collapse of the mountain's summit during a previous eruption. Interestingly, it looks as if a "giant eye is gazing through a breach in the clouds."

A large curved ridge can also be seen near the summit—these are remnants of an ancient volcano that once stood in the same location as Vesuvius today. From its center, a cone of the new volcano emerged.

At the same time, scientists note that it is still unclear what exactly caused the rupture in the thick clouds covering Vesuvius and Naples. However, the round shape of the hole resembles circular openings made in clouds by aircraft, known as "hole punch clouds." Therefore, it is quite possible that a plane taking off or landing at Naples International Airport could have created the opening.

It is worth noting that Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc—a chain of volcanoes in Italy that includes the currently active Mount Etna, located at the boundary between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates.

The last major eruption of the volcano occurred in 1944. Since then, several earthquakes have occurred in the region surrounding Vesuvius, the most recent being in 1999. Researchers have also stated that the next eruption of this dangerous volcano may not be far off—this is why Vesuvius is referred to as a "ticking time bomb."