![]() ![]() Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to take up-close measurements of Io. ![]() NASA’s twin Pioneer 10 and 11 probes - which launched in 19, respectively - were the first spacecraft to investigate the Jupiter system in great detail. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that scientists began to understand how Jupiter’s gravitational field affects its third-largest moon. Io was discovered in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Whether that makes it a geological dystopia or utopia is for you to decide. It’s estimated that Io is home to roughly 400 active volcanoes, the lava from which can exceed 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit). The friction creates enough heat to melt solid rock into magma.Īll this chaos creates the perfect, hectic conditions for a volcano world like no other. As Io moves farther away, Jupiter’s gravitational effect weakens and the moon “ relaxes.” This constant stretching and squeezing, which sounds anything but relaxing, creates movement and friction between layers of rock beneath the moon’s surface. This brings it closer to Jupiter at times, increasing the planet’s gravitational pull and warping the shape of the moon. Io is also tugged on by its neighboring moons as they pass one another, making Io’s orbit around Jupiter slightly eccentric. Because it’s the closest moon to its massive host planet, Io feels a strong gravitational pull as it orbits Jupiter. Io is the innermost of Jupiter’s four largest moons, which are also known as the Galilean moons ( Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are the remaining three). Learning more about Io can help us understand volcanism and the complex internal mechanisms in some of our Solar System’s worlds. While Io and Earth both have volcanoes, eruptions on the Jovian moon are thought to be caused by very different factors. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at. This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the Galileo mission home page at. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. ![]() manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. These features may provide evidence for springs of some liquid, probably a sulfur compound rather than water. Arrows in the inset indicate some examples of these. Several intriguing, narrow, channel-like features about 10 meters (11 yards) wide and a few hundred meters (yards) long can be seen. Sublimation of sulfur-dioxide-rich substances, their transition from solid to gaseous form, may also play a role in the segregation of bright and dark materials. In places, layers of bright and dark material appear to have been exposed by some process of erosion. The surface is quite varied in appearance, ranging from smooth patches of material to the much rougher top of the promontory. Galileo scientists estimate that the promontory is up to 400 meters (one-fourth mile) high. A raised promontory at the bottom of the center image casts shadows into the lower right corner of the left image. The Sun illuminates the surface from the right, but topographic shading is difficult to see because of the strong contrasts in brightness of the surface materials. The image is centered at 32 degrees north latitude and 193 degrees west longitude The images are rotated relative to one another because of Galileo's great speed as it flies above the surface of Io. North is to the top of the images and the entire mosaic spans about 17 kilometers (11 miles) from east to west. This mosaic of images acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft on February 22, 2000, shows the highest resolution view ever obtained of the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, 5 to 6 meters (16 to 20 feet) per picture element.
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