On the western flanks along the extensive runoff channels surrounding Artemisia Geyser in Yellowstone National Park of Wyoming are found two siliceous sinter mounds a few feet apart. These two mounds comprise Atomizer Geyser, which despite its proximity to such a large geyser as Artemisia, is actually an independently erupting geyser with no influence from Artemisia. It is also a much more frequent performer than Artemisia Geyser, and is often the focus of attention during the long intervals of time between Artemisia eruptions. While the unpredictable Artemisia Geyser generally erupts once per day at most, Atomizer Geyser is a series type of geyser, where the eruptions happen in regular intervals until it eventually goes quiet for an extended period of time before repeating the whole process all over again. In the case of Atomizer Geyser, it all begins with its pool in the west cone overflowing into the runoff channels every few minutes. This will continue for the next few hours until it finally has its initial eruption. Unlike other series type geysers where the initial eruption is often the largest, for Atomizer Geyser it is one of the smallest. Its initial eruption will only last for about a minute or so, and will be characterized by water jetting out of the west cone up to heights of about 30 feet, while the east cone will send up a fine spray mist reminiscent of a perfume atomizer bottle from which it earned its name. After the initial eruption, it will remain quiet for the next hour, until it will suddenly burst to life in its second eruption of the series. Again, this will last for about a minute or so. It will continue in this pattern for the next 6 to 8 hours. All of these eruptions are known as minor eruptions, as its largest, known as the major eruption, is always its very last. At some point after it has performed 6 to 8 minor eruptions, it will erupt with all of its remaining energy in a single, final, major eruption. It can occur anywhere between 15 and 90 minutes after the previous minor eruption, and it is never certain which minor eruption is the final one before the major eruption, so it requires patience to observe a major eruption. When an Atomizer Geyser major eruption does occur, it is unmistakable, as the water column reaches much higher to about 50 feet, but even more noticeable is the duration of the eruption which 8 to 10 minutes in length, many times longer than any of its previous minor eruptions. Following the large output of water during the major eruption, it will then enter into an extended steam phase from both sinter cone vents, another characteristic unique to the major eruption. After this grand finale, and fully exhausted of energy, it goes quiet for the next 6 hours while it slowly fills its reservoir and pool. So while it does spend a large amount of quiet time during its refill and its subsequent overflow, once it does begin to erupt, you can be sure of several hours worth of eruptions from Atomizer Geyser. The Wild Images Team has observed and photographed many eruptions of Atomizer Geyser, sometimes while waiting for an eruption of Artemisia Geyser, such as the one in which we captured this absolutely beautiful image for sale in our store, and other times while Artemisia is just a quietly steaming turquoise pool. In the above photo of Atomizer Geyser, we used a telephoto lens to capture a detailed image of an eruption. Close inspection will reveal the fine spray mist emanating from the east cone. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Yellowstone National Park including a Beehive Geyser eruption with a massive rainbow, the world famous Old Faithful Geyser with water textures, a towering Grand Geyser pause burst eruption, a sunset Castle Geyser eruption with a bright rainbow, an afternoon Riverside Geyser eruption with a rainbow, an early morning Lion Geyser eruption with a rainbow, a very difficult to catch Oblong Geyser blue burst eruption, the extremely powerful Artemisia Geyser eruption with deep bursts, the very moment of waves from a Great Fountain Geyser initial eruption, an iconic White Dome Geyser eruption at sunset, the large bursts of a Fountain Geyser eruption in steam, the delicate red light on a Grotto Fountain Geyser eruption at sunset, the defining moment of a Rocket Geyser eruption at sunset, the extremely brief Aurum Geyser eruption with colors, a view through a Cliff Geyser eruption of Black Sand Basin, the colorful patterns of bacterial mats in Midway Geyser Basin, the changing conditions that cause a rainbow to parallel the Snow Lodge, the Biscuit Basin duo of Black Diamond Pool and Opal Pool, the colorfully pock marked waterways of the erupting Blood Geyser, the active steppes of the Mineral Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, the distant double rainbow over the Lewis River Canyon, the before eruption reflections of sunset over the terraces of Great Fountain Geyser, the deep colors of sky reflections over Beauty Pool, the thermally induced sunset light filters through the steamy trees, the intense moment of mammatus clouds over the Firehole River, the very early morning fog surrounding Lower Yellowstone Falls, the runoff created reflections over the colorful runoff pan of Constant Geyser, the unworldly terrain of the extensive Porcelain Geyser Basin in Norris, the deeply hued steam over colorful bacterial mat reflections of Grand Prismatic Spring, the contrast of runoff channels surrounding the blue superheated water of Sapphire Pool, differing wave patterns created by the colorful submerged Fishing Cone Geyser, the strong green created by the record depths of mysterious Abyss Pool, the moment the full moon rises over the Grant Village Lakehouse, the cloud symmetry of a sunset reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, and moments earlier with a cloud shelf reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Yellowstone National Park have documented the Old Faithful Geyser eruptions, the steamy Oblong Geyser eruptions, the deep drain Uncertain Geyser eruptions, the steep crater Depression Geyser eruptions, the amphitheater Grand Geyser eruptions, the impressive Fan and Mortar Geyser eruptions, the very quick Aurum Geyser eruptions, the rooster tail Whirligig Geyser eruptions, the series type Lion Geyser eruptions, the tall grotto White Dome Geyser eruptions, the frequent Sawmill Geyser eruptions, the double cone Atomizer Geyser eruptions, the nozzled Beehive Geyser eruptions, the cratered Fountain Geyser eruptions, the deep pool Artemisia Geyser eruptions, the playful Vixen Geyser eruptions, the scenic Riverside Geyser eruptions, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from above, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from below, the gurgling Tilt’s Baby Geyser eruptions, the bursts of Great Fountain Geyser eruptions, the hidden Dome Geyser eruptions, the tilted Daisy Geyser eruptions, the remote Pink Cone Geyser eruptions, the long Castle Geyser eruption water phases, the loud Castle Geyser eruption steam phases, the stark Constant Geyser eruptions, the rim wall Cliff Geyser eruptions, the initiation from Grotto Fountain Geyser eruptions, the continuation of Grotto Geyser eruptions, the defining moment of Rocket Geyser eruptions, the marathon Spa Geyser eruptions, the blue waters of a Spouter Geyser eruption, the isolated Artist Paint Pots throwing mud, the little seen intricate burst of a mud volcano, a view of a dozen visitors under a Beehive Geyser rainbow, the eruption through numerous vents of Fan and Mortar Geysers, the enormous amount of water through the runoff channels of Excelsior Geyser, the otherworldly view of cloudy blue runoff pools in the Porcelain Basin, the moment that a large bison bull rolled in his claimed dirt pile, the rule for the right of way wildlife, the high altitudes where a large raven that perches over the Dunraven Pass, the the day that a phoenix streaked across the backcountry sky, the trail from Grant Village that crosses over this suspended bridge, The Wild Images Team in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, our Photographer Jeremy Robinson shadowed in Morning Glory Pool, and The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the Yellowstone National Park entrance sign.
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