Kawah Ijen’s blue fire at night

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At Kawah Ijen in East Java, bright blue fire streams down the volcano after dark<sup class="text_citation" source_id="1"></sup><sup class="text_citation" source_id="2"></sup>.

It is not blue lava, but sulfuric gases ignite as they meet oxygen-rich air and can burn at temperatures above 600 degrees Celsius<sup class="text_citation" source_id="1"></sup><sup class="text_citation" source_id="18"></sup>.

Some of the burning sulfur cools into liquid and keeps flowing, which gives the eerie impression of lava spilling downhill<sup class="text_citation" source_id="1"></sup><sup class="text_citation" source_id="35"></sup>.

The same crater also holds one of the world’s largest highly acidic lakes, making the place as dangerous as it is beautiful<sup class="text_citation" source_id="32"></sup><sup class="text_citation" source_id="36"></sup>.

And through that toxic haze, miners still work the crater, carrying sulfur in heavy baskets by hand<sup class="text_citation" source_id="30"></sup><sup class="text_citation" source_id="18"></sup>.