NASA's International Space Station was in the right place at the right time as it took this amazing photograph of a volcanic eruption in progress:

A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009.

There is some controversy over whether a shockwave from the eruption punched a hole in the cloud deck; several other theories are offered in the link. Personally, I like that explanation best because it's the coolest sounding... ;-)