In Photos: NASA’s Juno Flies Just 930 Miles Above Volcanoes On Jupiter’s Violent Moon
Jupiter’s fiery moon Io appears a violent and chaotic place in the best-ever images ever taken by a NASA spacecraft of the tortured world. In the wake of the first image, NASA has now released five more that together are the best for 22 years of the small moon.
Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io
The recent images captured by NASA's spacecraft Juno depict Jupiter's moon Io as a violent and chaotic place. These images are the best-ever taken of the moon, providing astonishing visual details of its tortured surface.
Io is known to be the most volcanic world in our solar system, with eruptions that far surpass anything seen on Earth. The recent release of five additional images by NASA marks a significant milestone in our understanding of this small moon, as they are the best images obtained in the past 22 years.
Close Encounter with Io
On December 30, 2023, Juno made its closest pass of Io, reaching a distance of only 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from its pockmarked surface. This close encounter allowed JunoCam to capture unprecedented details of Io's rugged and volcanic terrain.
Io's volcanic activity is primarily influenced by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. The moon experiences intense tidal heating as it is pulled in different directions during its orbit around the gas giant. The gravitational effects of Jupiter's other three large moons, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto, exacerbate this frictional heating.
Unique Features and Missions
One of the remarkable features discovered on Io is Loki Patera, a volcanic depression and energetic hotspot. This region is believed to contain a vast lake or sea of lava, highlighting the extreme volcanic activity on the moon.
Although Juno has been conducting close flybys of Jupiter's Galilean moons since 2016, including Europa and Ganymede, there are currently no plans to study Io in future space missions. Previous proposals for missions to Io have been considered, but they were not selected in favor of other missions.
