Erebus is the name of a special kind of volcano. It's not like the volcanoes you see in cartoons that shoot out hot lava and smoke. Erebus is actually the name of a volcano that sits on a continent called Antarctica. This volcano is really special because it's actually the southernmost active volcano in the world. That means it's the volcano that's closest to the bottom of the planet, near the South Pole.
Erebus is a really big volcano, but it doesn't look like a traditional volcano with sloping sides. Instead, it has a big cone shape that's made up of hardened lava and rock. Erebus is also a special kind of volcano because it has something called a lava lake. This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like - it's a lake made up of molten rock that's inside the volcano. It's very hot and very dangerous, so nobody can actually get close to the lava lake.
Even though Erebus is really far away and really cold, scientists are really interested in studying it. They want to learn more about how volcanoes work, how they form, and what kind of things they can teach us about Earth's history. They've even sent special cameras and robots to study Erebus and take pictures of the lava lake, so they can learn as much as they can about this unique and fascinating natural wonder.