Jupiter's Moon Io Doesn't Have An Ocean Of Lava, Scientists Say

[Judi Lynn]

Jamie Carter
Senior Contributor



Jupiter's moon Io as seen by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Feb. 2, 2024. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Io, the innermost giant moon of Jupiter, may not have a shallow sea of magma beneath its surface, as was previously thought.

The most volcanic place in the entire solar system, Io, is covered by hundreds of volcanoes, some producing eruptions so powerful Earth-based telescopes can image them.

Juno At Jupiter

A paper published today in Nature takes data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter — and flying close to its moons — since 2016.

In December 2023 and February 2024, Io was imaged by Juno from as close as just 930 miles away. That’s closer than any spacecraft has got to Io for 20 years since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft orbited Jupiter. The images were taken by JunoCAM, the spacecraft’s two-megapixel camera.

More:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2024/12/15/jupiters-moon-io-doesnt-have-an-ocean-of-lava-scientists-say/

[Easterncedar]

1. Interesting

The article wasn’t readable for me through the advertising, but I went looking for more information on Io. NASA has cool videos, for a start. Thanks, Judi Lynn!