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As the most volcanic object in the Solar System, Jupiter\u2019s moon Io attracts a lot of attention. NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft arrived at the Jovian system in July 2016, and in recent months, it\u2019s been paying closer attention to Io.<\/p>\n
Though Io\u2019s internal workings have been mostly inscrutable, images and data from Juno are starting to provide a fuller picture of the strange moon\u2019s volcanic inner life. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Io\u2019s extreme volcanic activity stems from tidal heating caused by massive Jupiter and its powerful gravity. Some of the moon\u2019s volcanoes spew out plumes of sulphur and sulphur dioxide as high as 500 km (300 miles) above its surface. Sulphur is also ever-present in its lava flows, which colour the moon\u2019s surface in various shades of yellow, red, white, green, and black. Some of the lava flows extend up to 500 km (300 miles) along its surface. These features entice scientists to study the moon more thoroughly. <\/p>\n One of Juno\u2019s instruments is an imager and spectrometer that operates in the infrared. It\u2019s called JIRAM (Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper.) It was designed to, obviously, map Jupiter\u2019s aurorae. But as Juno\u2019s orbits have brought it progressively closer to Io, JIRAM is delivering high-quality images and data from the volcanic moon. <\/p>\n \u201cThe observations show fascinating new information on Io\u2019s volcanic processes.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator for Juno, SwRI<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n In new research in Nature Communications Earth and Environment, a team of scientists present some new insights into the moon and its vigorous volcanic activity. The title is \u201cHot rings on Io observed by Juno\/JIRAM.\u201d The lead author is Alessandro Mura from the National Institute of Astrophysics\u2014Institute of Space Astrophysics and Planetology, Rome, Italy. Italy provided the JIRAM instrument for the Juno mission. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are just starting to wade into the JIRAM results from the close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024,\u201d said Scott Bolton, principal investigator for Juno at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. \u201cThe observations show fascinating new information on Io\u2019s volcanic processes. Combining these new results with Juno\u2019s longer-term campaign to monitor and map the volcanoes on Io\u2019s never-before-seen north and south poles, JIRAM is turning out to be one of the most valuable tools to learn how this tortured world works.\u201d<\/p>\n Io has many of what planetary scientists call \u2018paterae.\u2019 Paterae are irregular craters or complex craters with scalloped edges. They\u2019re usually broad and shallow, and scientists have wondered if they hold lava lakes. Older observations of Io from NASA\u2019s Galileo spacecraft were inconclusive, but new images from Juno and JIRAM have much higher resolution. <\/p>\n \n\n