At a Glance

An image of a 65-foot-tall lava dome was shared last week by the U.S. Geological Survey.The "Throwback Thursday" image was originally taken Oct. 11, 1969, nearly a half-century ago.

A spectacular image of a lava bubble in Hawaii quickly gained hundreds of retweets last week, even though the phenomenon occurred nearly a half-century ago.

The photo was shared on Twitter by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of the popular "Throwback Thursday" social media hashtag. In the image, taken Oct. 11, 1969, the 65-foot-tall Hawaiian lava domeresembles a fiery star colliding with Earth.

The lava that formed this dome originated at the Kilauea Volcano, , according to the Hawaii Center for Volcanology. It has been in an almost constant state of eruption since 1983.

"Symmetrical dome fountains ," said the USGS in the tweet.

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Hundreds of the USGS's 700,000 followers shared the tweet, and others left comments expressingawe.

"," said one person.

"This is so cool ... " said another respondent. Then, there was the person who simply said, "."

These lava domes form when thick magma bubbles to the surface and , according to research from Oregon State University. There isn't enough pressure to cause a violent eruption, so it piles up instead.

Lava domes can growas tall as 1,600 feet tall, but , the USGS said.