Rare footage of a remote sub-Antarctic volcano erupting

By simply being in the right place at the right time, scientists have captured photos of an extremely remote sub-Antarctic volcano erupting.The Big Ben volcano, found on Heard Island, is one of only two active volcanoes in Australia's territories. The other is on one of the McDonald Islands. Both islands are far from any inhabited land — they are 4,000 kilometres (2,485 miles) southwest of mainland Australia in the Southern Ocean — and although they are known to have erupted before, they have rarely been sighted except by satellite.Researchers on board the CSIRO's Marine National Facility vessel were surprised by the geological activity, according to an emailed statement from the University of Tasmania. The ship is exploring the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Plateau in order to examine active volcanoes on the ocean floor.