The Kuril Islands, found off Russia's Pacific coast, are a volcanic archipelago — and Sarychev Peak is among the most active of all the volcanic mountains there.

Sarychev has erupted 16 times since 1760, and its most recent eruption was just five years ago, in June 2009.

Luckily, the International Space Station was passing right overhead as the volcano spewed clouds of ash into the sky and was able to capture a series of images, which NASA's Earth Observatory later processed into a mind-blowing animation. You can see the plume of ash rising up from the crater, and the movement over a few seconds of images makes it look like a 3D image.