Jupiter’s moon Io was seen in infrared light in a photo taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from a distance of 80,000 kilometers. Flowing lava along with lava lakes can be seen as bright red blotches in the image, captured on July 5 and released by the US Space Agency on Wednesday.
NASA had announced that its Juno mission is scheduled to acquire images of the Jovian moon Io on Dec. 15 as part of its ongoing exploration of Jupiter’s inner moons. every short flight we have been able to obtain a wealth of new information,” said Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio in a press release. He continued: “Juno sensors are designed to study Jupiter, but we’re thrilled with how well they do double duty by observing Jupiter’s moons.”
Dubbed the Io Volcano Observer (IVO), the mission informed that Io is “a true volcanic wonderland with hundreds of erupting volcanoes gushing tons of molten lava” and sulphurous gases at any given time. Io is subject to harsh tides that strain and crush the moon as it travels along its elliptical orbit due to Jupiter’s immense gravity and the passing orbital tugs of sister moons Europa and Ganymede.
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According to Science Alert, Sctt Bolton, principal investigator of NASA’s Juno spacecraft, said at a press event at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, “You can see volcanic hot spots. We’ve been able to track the course of the primary mission — across 30 orbits — how this changes and evolves.” Mr Bolton also said that scientists have found more volcanic sites in the Arctic than in the equatorial region of the planet.
NASA said this exploration of Jupiter’s moon will be the first of nine flybys — two of them from just 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away. “Juno scientists will use those flybys to conduct the first high-resolution monitoring campaign on the magma-covered moon, study Io’s volcanoes and how volcanic eruptions interact with Jupiter’s powerful magnetosphere and aurora,” the agency said in a statement. press release.
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