When NASAThe Juno orbiter has approached a moon of Jupiterhe saw a couple of volcanic clouds spewing material into them spacesomething the robotic spacecraft had not captured before.
Clouds rise high above Io, Jupiter the third largest moon. It is the most volcanically active world in our solar system, where astronomers believe hundreds of volcanoes are spewing fountains tens of kilometers high. The spacecraft took the image in February, its last close-up inspection Io at a distance of 2,400 miles.
This last dash did not disappoint. Scientists are just beginning to dig into the close encounter data and uncover new information about the moon’s volcanic processes, said Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in. declaration.
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The plumes seen here along the Io limb originate either from two vents from one huge volcano, or from two separate but cozy volcanoes.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Andrea Luck
Scotland-based Andrea Luck processed the raw data for clarity (see above). The plumes, visible along the Io limb, emanate either from two vents from one huge volcano, or from two separate but cozy volcanoes.
Juno circulates Jupiter more than seven years. During its primary mission, the probe collected data on the gas giant’s atmosphere and interior. Among his discoveries was the discovery that the planet’s atmospheric weather layer extends far beyond its clouds.
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After completing 35 flybys, the probe moved on to study the entire system around Jupiter, including its dust rings and many moons. This extended mission will continue for another year or until the spacecraft dies. Juno will eventually burn up in Jupiter’s atmosphere as its trajectory around the planet erodes. But rest assured: NASA says the orbiter is not at risk of impact and contamination by Jupiter’s moons, some of which may be habitable worlds.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Andrea Luck
The spacecraft has an instrument called JunoCam, designed to take detailed photographs of Jupiter and engage the public. The science team invites amateur astronomers to process the raw data from the camera and gather what to focus on next.
JunoCam isn’t the only instrument giving scientists a new look at Io’s volcanoes. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper, or JIRAM, also observed the Moon in infrared light. Researchers have just published new paper based on the findings of the Italian tool in the magazine Nature Communication Earth and environment.
Galileo Galilei discovered Io in 1610, but it took many centuries before NASA Voyager 1 a spacecraft saw a volcanic eruption on it for the first time. With Juno’s help, scientists are beginning to understand the mechanisms that drive this activity.
The entire surface Io, about the size of Earth’s moon, is covered in molten siliceous lava lakes. These lakes are contained within caldera-like formations — large basins formed when volcanoes erupt and collapse, Alessandro Mura, the paper’s lead author, said in a statement.
Scientists believe that the moon is teeming with vast lava lakes in which magma rises and recedes. The lava crust breaks against the steep walls of the lake, creating a ring similar to what happens in Hawaiian lava lakes. The high barriers may be what keeps the magma from spilling all over Io’s surface.
But there’s another idea that can’t be ruled out: Magma could well up in the middle of the lake, spread, then form a crust that sinks along the edge of the lake, exposing the lava.