{"id":785013,"date":"2024-06-30T06:21:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T11:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=785013"},"modified":"2024-06-30T06:21:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T11:21:34","slug":"juno-zooms-in-on-ios-volcanoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=785013","title":{"rendered":"Juno zooms in on Io\u2019s volcanoes"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The JunoCam instrument aboard NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft captured 2 volcanic plumes rising above the horizon of Jupiter\u2019s moon Io. Juno captured this image on February 3, 2024, from about 2,400 miles (3,800 kilometers). Juno also studied lava lakes on Io\u2019s surface. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech\/ SwRI\/ MSSS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA originally published this article on June 26, 2024. Edited by EarthSky.<\/p>\n

Infrared imagery from the solar-powered spacecraft heats up the discussion on the inner workings of Jupiter\u2019s hottest moon.<\/p>\n

Juno zooms in on volcanic processes at Io<\/h3>\n

New findings from NASA\u2019s Juno probe provide a fuller picture of how widespread the lava lakes are on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io. And they include first-time insights into the volcanic processes at work there. These results come courtesy of Juno\u2019s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument which \u201csees\u201d in infrared light.<\/p>\n

Researchers published a paper on Juno\u2019s most recent volcanic discoveries on June 20 in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications Earth and Environment<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Io is certainly intriguing<\/h3>\n

Io has intrigued the astronomers since 1610, when Galileo Galilei first discovered the Jovian moon. It\u2019s slightly larger than Earth\u2019s moon. Some 369 years later, NASA\u2019s Voyager 1 spacecraft captured a volcanic eruption on the moon. Subsequent missions to Jupiter, with more Io flybys, discovered additional plumes \u2026 along with lava lakes.<\/p>\n

Scientists now believe Io, which is stretched and squeezed like an accordion by neighboring moons and massive Jupiter itself, is the most volcanically active world in the solar system. But while there are many theories on the types of volcanic eruptions across the surface of the moon, little supporting data exists.<\/p>\n

Images captured in close flyby<\/h3>\n

In both May and October 2023, Juno flew by Io, coming within about 21,700 miles (35,000 kilometers) and 8,100 miles (13,000 km), respectively. Among Juno\u2019s instruments getting a good look at the beguiling moon was JIRAM.<\/p>\n

\"Infrared
Infrared data collected October 15, 2023, by the JIRAM instrument aboard NASA\u2019s Juno shows Chors Patera, a lava lake on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io. The team believes the lake is largely covered by a thick, molten crust, with a hot ring around the edges where lava from Io\u2019s interior is directly exposed to space. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech\/ SwRI\/ ASI\/ INAF\/ JIRAM\/ MSSS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Designed to capture the infrared light (which is not visible to the human eye) emerging from deep inside Jupiter, JIRAM probes the weather layer down to 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 km) below the gas giant\u2019s cloud tops. But during Juno\u2019s extended mission, the mission team has also used the instrument to study the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The JIRAM Io imagery showed the presence of bright rings surrounding the floors of numerous hot spots.<\/p>\n

Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, said: <\/p>\n

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The high spatial resolution of JIRAM\u2019s infrared images, combined with the favorable position of Juno during the flybys, revealed that the whole surface of Io is covered by lava lakes contained in caldera-like features. In the region of Io\u2019s surface in which we have the most complete data, we estimate about 3% of it is covered by one of these molten lava lakes. (A caldera is a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n