Fast Facts of Lo Moon | Space Science Lab

A detailed view of Io's surface captured by the Juno spacecraft. Various volcanic features are visible, including dark volcanic pits and bright, sulfurous plains. Volcanic plumes and intricate surface patterns highlight Io's diverse and active geology, emphasizing its status as the most volcanically active body in the Solar System.

Fast Facts of Lo

Volcanic Activity: The Solar System's most volcanically active body, Io, is revealing its scarred and sulfurous surface in stunning from Jupiter probe Juno. Juno came as close as just 11,680 kilometres from Io's hellish surface, capturing breathtaking views of its north polar region and even volcanic plumes from ongoing eruptions, with an estimated 150 erupting volcanoes out of the 400-ish known.

Best Images Since Galileo: Scientists are saying that these images are the best and clearest we've had of Io since Jupiter probe Galileo, which studied the gas giant and its moons between 1995 and 2003.

"Images such as these will provide Io research with plenty of analysis work for years to come," writes Jason Perry of the University of Arizona, formerly of the Galileo mission, who processed some of the raw images.

A sequence of images showing different phases of Io captured by the Juno spacecraft. The images display Io's varying surface features, including its volcanic plains and regions of active geology, under different lighting conditions. Each phase highlights the dynamic nature of Io, the most volcanically active body in the Solar System.

Coverage Areas: They cover Io's anti-Jovian hemisphere before going over Io's north polar region and settling out over the satellite's sub-Jovian hemisphere.

Fascinating Features: Io is a fascinating object. The innermost Jovian moon is just a wee bit bigger than Earth's Moon and absolutely bristling with volcanoes. Infrared data shows hot spots caused by the molten material erupting from Io's interior, and it's thought that powerful tides from Jupiter are responsible for heating up the satellite's core sufficiently to produce such huge amounts of material.

Jupiter's surface with visible bands of clouds, alongside two of its moons, Io and Europa, labeled and highlighted in yellow circles against the dark background of space.

Mystery of Lo: Despite its fascinating features, Io remains a mystery in many ways. We still don’t understand how its volcanoes can be so active. Io's orbit around Jupiter is an ellipse, due to the gravitational influence of big Joop changing the shape of the moon as it orbits. And the other Galilean moons – Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede – all exert their own gravitational pull on Io. This creates frictional heating in the tiny moon that melts its insides, which then spew out everywhere all over the surface.

A close-up view of Io, Jupiter's moon, showcasing its volcanically active surface. The image reveals a landscape marked by various colors and textures, including sulfurous plains, volcanic pits, and lava flows. The visible half of Io is illuminated, highlighting the intricate geological features, while the other half fades into darkness.

Sulfur Dioxide Torus: Similar to Saturn's Enceldus' water torus, the constant stream of sulfur dioxide gas erupting forth from Io is ripped out into Jupiter's orbit, where it forms a huge torus of plasma that gets constantly diverted and accelerated along the giant planet's magnetic field lines. When it reaches the poles, this material falls down into Jupiter's atmosphere, interacting with the material therein to generate permanent ultraviolet aurorae – invisible to the naked eye, but the most powerful in the Solar System.

A partially illuminated view of Io, Jupiter's moon, with its surface displaying various geological features, including volcanic plains and pits. The image is overlaid with horizontal color bands in purple, red, and green, adding a unique visual effect. The other half of Io is in shadow, emphasizing the moon's three-dimensional shape.

Space Science: As for space science, the new images reveal new details of the moon's north polar region, which has non-volcanic mountains reaching up to 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) in height. Because it's non-volcanic, it doesn't change as much over time as some of the more active regions.

Volcanic Plumes: Around the edge of the disk, at least two volcanic plumes have been captured. There may be more to be found as the images are cleaned up and processed.

An animated GIF showing a volcanic eruption on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. The sequence captures a plume rising from the surface, illuminated by sunlight, highlighting the dynamic and active geology of the moon. The eruption is prominently visible against the dark background of space, emphasizing Io's status as the Solar System's most volcanically active body.

Upcoming Flybys: The Juno mission is scheduled to continue its exploration of Io in 2025 as part of its extended mission. The spacecraft will conduct several distant flybys of Io, providing valuable data on the moon's volcanic activity and interior structure. Juno's mission is set to end in September 2025, after which it will be directed to plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid contamination of any of the Jovian moons.

Io, one of Jupiter's moons, against the backdrop of Jupiter's swirling clouds. The image is in black and white, highlighting the contrast between Io's detailed, cratered surface and the smooth, dynamic cloud patterns of Jupiter.

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