"It's going to explode"... Powerful volcanic eruption on 'Io' [Now in space]

This image was taken by Juno's JIRAM infrared instrument as it passed by Io on December 27th of last year. A huge hotspot larger than Earth's Lake Superior can be seen just to the right of Io's south pole. [Photo=NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM]



Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active place in the solar system. A probe recently discovered a volcanic hotspot on Io. It covers an area of ​​100,000㎢, larger than Earth's Lake Superior (surface area of ​​approximately 82,400㎢).



NASA explained, "This image was taken by Juno's Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) infrared instrument as it passed by Io on December 27th of last year. A huge hotspot larger than Earth's Lake Superior can be seen just to the right of Io's south pole."



Io has the most volcanoes in the solar system. The newly discovered hotspot is not only large, but is estimated to produce an eruption that is six times the total energy of all power plants on Earth.



Io as photographed by the Juno probe in infrared on July 5, 2022. The image was taken from about 80,000 km away from Io. The brighter the color, the higher the temperature. There are about 400 volcanoes on Io. [Photo = NASA]



"Juno has approached Io several times and collected related data," said Scott Bolton, the mission's principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "The data from the most recent flyby surprised us, and this is the strongest volcanic activity ever recorded in the most volcanically dense place in the solar system."



Io is similar in size to Earth's moon. It is very close to the gas giant Jupiter. It orbits Jupiter in an elliptical orbit every 42.5 hours. Io is constantly pressed down by Jupiter's strong gravity.



As a result, the frictional heating that melts part of Io's interior generates enormous energy, constantly spewing lava columns and ash into the atmosphere from about 400 volcanoes on Io's surface.



Juno, the Jupiter orbiter. Juno has been gathering data on not only Jupiter but also related moons. [Photo = NASA]



JIRAM, which uses infrared, is a device built to explore the atmosphere layer 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 km) deep beneath the tops of Jupiter's clouds. This device is also used to explore Jupiter's moons such as Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.



In addition to this, Juno has flown close to Io in December 2023 and February 2024. It came within about 930 miles (1,500 km) of the surface.



The most recent flyby took place on December 27 of last year. At that time, the Juno spacecraft came within about 46,200 miles (74,400 km) of Io.



"JIRAM detected a very strong extreme infrared event in Io's southern hemisphere," said Juno co-lead investigator Alessandro Murra of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome. "This is the most powerful volcanic eruption ever recorded on Io." The



JIRAM science team has yet to name the hotspot. They estimate the feature covers an area of ​​100,000 square kilometers.



Juno will observe the hotspot again on March 3 as it passes farther along Io. That could provide insight into how the eruption has changed the landscape.





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