what is that: Alas, Jupiter's moon and the most volcanic world in the solar system
When it is taken: December 30, 2023
Why it's so special: NASA's Juno spacecraft has captured NASA's closest ever view of Io The Galileo spacecraft photographed the volcanic world In 2001, the spacecraft passed within just 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Io, snapping six images of the moon's pockmarked surface. This image shows the subtle „Jupiter glow” – sunlight reflecting off Jupiter's clouds onto Io's surface.
Io is the most volcanic in the world The Solar System; According to sister site LiveScience, its surface is dotted with hundreds of volcanoes, some spewing plumes of sulfur hundreds of miles high. Space.com. This is a result of Io's proximity to Jupiter, which orbits the moon every 42 hours. This proximity creates friction, as do Io's gravitational interactions with Jupiter's giant moons Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. Gravitational tug-of-war results in a turbulent ocean of magma beneath Io's rocky surface, leading to volcanic eruptions that are orders of magnitude more powerful than those on Earth.
Planetary scientists hope the images will shed light on how Io's volcanoes vary, how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, and how Io's activity is linked to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter's magnetosphere.
This is the first of two close flybys of Io. The next one is scheduled for February 3rd, when Juno will again come within 930 miles of the volcanic moon.
However, Juno's imaging system, the JunoCam, would not last long. Juno has been severely damaged by radiation after 56 flybys of Jupiter since its arrival in 2016, with JunoCam hit hard after its most recent orbit of Jupiter in November. NASA. In December, engineers used Juno's built-in heater to restore the camera, but it's unclear how long the process, known as annealing, will work. Juno will orbit Jupiter in September 2025.