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NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft came within 1,500 km (930 miles) of the surface of Jupiter\u2019s moon Io in two recent flybys. That\u2019s close enough to reveal new details on the surface of this moon, the most volcanic object in the Solar System. Not only did Juno capture volcanic activity, but scientists were also able to create a visual animation from the data that shows what Io\u2019s 200-km-long lava lake Loki Patera would look like if you could get even closer. There are islands at the center of a magma lake rimmed with hot lava. The lake\u2019s surface is smooth as glass, like obsidian.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u201cIo is simply littered with volcanoes, and we caught a few of them in action,\u201d said Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton during a news conference at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly in Vienna, Austria. \u201cThere is amazing detail showing these crazy islands embedded in the middle of a potentially magma lake rimmed with hot lava. The specular reflection our instruments recorded of the lake suggests parts of Io\u2019s surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanically created obsidian glass on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n \n