NASA has released a stunning photo of Jupiter’s moon Io, showing glowing lakes of fiery lava on its surface.
The image, captured in July but released by NASA this week, was taken by the Juno spacecraft’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) imager.
It shows several of Io’s volcanoes as bright lights, some erupting lava fountains tens of kilometers high.
NASA said Juno took another set of images of Io (pronounced ‘eye-oh’) on Thursday (December 15), which will be released soon.
The volcano-ringed surface of Jupiter’s moon Io was captured in infrared by the spacecraft Juno’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) imager as it flew at a distance of about 50,000 miles on July 5, 2022. The dots brighter indicate higher temperatures
Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016 after a five-year journey and will continue to fly by the planet and its moons until 2025.
The spacecraft is now in the second year of its extended mission to investigate the interior of Jupiter.
It was planned to conclude in February 2018 after completing 37 orbits of Jupiter, but was commissioned until 2025 for another 42 orbits.
“The team is really excited that Juno’s extended mission will include the study of Jupiter’s moons,” said Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
“The Juno sensors are designed to study Jupiter, but we are delighted at how well they can pull double duty when observing Jupiter’s moons.”
The image of Io’s volcanic surface was captured in infrared by JIRAM as Juno flew at a distance of approximately 50,000 miles (80,000 km) on July 5, 2022.
The brightest points in the image, which look like a string of Christmas lights, indicate the highest temperatures.
Io is described by NASA as “the most volcanic place in the solar system”, with hundreds of volcanoes erupting lava fountains.
The moon even has lava lakes of molten silicate, molten mixtures dominated by oxygen and silicon, on its surface.
In the new shot, Io appears red due to infrared light captured by JIRAM, but the best approximation of what it would look like to the human eye shows a predominantly yellowish globe, dotted with green and black spots.
Approximately true color image of Io from the Galileo spacecraft. The dark spot left of center is the erupting volcano Prometheus. Most of Io’s surface has pastel colors, punctuated by black, brown, green, orange, and red units near active volcanic centers. The whitish plains on either side are covered with volcanically deposited sulfur dioxide frost, while the yellower regions contain a higher proportion of sulfur.
Io will continue to be the focus of the Juno team for the next year and a half.
Juno’s scan on December 15 marked the first of nine flybys, two of them from just 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away.
NASA says: “Juno scientists will use those flybys to conduct the first high-resolution monitoring campaign on the magma-encrusted moon, studying Io’s volcanoes and how volcanic eruptions interact with Jupiter’s powerful magnetosphere and aurora.” .
Juno, a rotating solar-powered spacecraft, arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011.
Juno is pictured here in an artist’s impression as it approaches Jupiter. Juno has been orbiting Jupiter and its moon for five years
In 2016, the Juno spacecraft reached Jupiter after a journey of almost five years. Juno launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011, with the primary mission of understanding the origin and evolution of Jupiter (artist’s impression)
Juno has three giant blades that extend about 20 meters (66 feet) from its six-sided cylindrical body.
It made a close flyby of Ganymede in June 2021 and of Europe in September of this year.
Flyby images of Ganymede were captured as it passed within 645 miles (1,038 kilometers) of the icy moon.
The image provided by NASA and captured by the Juno spacecraft in June 2021 shows the dark side of the moon Ganymede.
This second NASA image shows the dark side of the Jovian moon Ganymede taken by the Juno spacecraft as it flew by.
The last time a spacecraft was this close to Ganymede was in May 2000 when NASA’s Galileo spacecraft sped by.
Similarly, Juno gave us the closest look at Europa of any spacecraft in more than 20 years, when Galileo came within 218 miles (351 km) of the surface in January 2000.
Juno captured the ice-encrusted surface of Europa in extraordinary detail when it came within 352 km of its surface on September 29.
Up close and personal: NASA’s Juno spacecraft takes its first photos of Jupiter’s moon Europa, capturing the ice-covered surface in extraordinary detail
The images are the closest look at Europa any spacecraft has provided in more than 20 years, when the US space agency’s Galileo came within 218 miles (351 km) of the surface in January 2000.
A NASA interactive tool provides real-time updates on Juno’s location in relation to Jupiter and its moons.
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