When NASAThe Juno orbiter has approached a moon of Jupiterhe saw a pair of volcanic plumes ejecting material into spacesomething the robotic spacecraft had not captured before.
Plumes rise high above Jupiter’s planet Io third largest moonIt’s the most volcanic world in our solar system, where astronomers believe hundreds of volcanoes spew fountains that reach dozens of kilometers high. The spacecraft took the snapshot FEBRUARYhis last close visit to I at a distance of 2,400 miles.
This latest encounter did not disappoint. Scientists are just beginning to analyze data from the close encounter, revealing new information about the moon’s volcanic processes, said Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in New York. A declaration.
The plumes seen here along the edge of Io are either erupting from two vents of one massive volcano, or from two separate but nearby volcanoes.
Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Andrea Luck
Andrea Luck, based in Scotland, processed the raw data to improve clarity (see above). The plumes, visible along Io’s flank, are either erupting from two vents of a massive volcano, or from two separate but nearby volcanoes.
Juno has been in orbit Jupiter For more than seven years, the probe has been collecting data on the gas giant’s atmosphere and interior. Among its discoveries is that the planet’s atmospheric layer extends well beyond its clouds.
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After completing 35 orbits, the spacecraft has begun studying the entire system around Jupiter, including its dusty rings and many moons. This extended mission will continue for another year or until the spacecraft dies. Juno will eventually burn up in Jupiter’s atmosphere as its path around the planet erodes. But rest assured: NASA says the orbiter is not in danger of crashing into Jupiter’s moons and contaminating them, some of which could be habitable worlds.
Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Andrea Luck
The spacecraft is equipped with an instrument called JunoCamdesigned to take close-up photos of Jupiter and engage the public. The science team is inviting amateur astronomers to process the camera’s raw data and crowdsource what to focus on next.
JunoCam isn’t the only instrument giving scientists new information about Io’s volcanoes. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper, or JIRAM, has also been observing the moon in infrared light. The researchers just published a new paper based on the findings of the Italian instrument in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment.
Galileo discovered Io in 1610, but it took several centuries before NASA Travel 1 The first spacecraft detected a volcanic eruption on the planet. Thanks to Juno, scientists are beginning to understand the mechanisms behind this activity.
The entire surface of Iabout the size of The moon of the Earthis covered in lakes of molten silicate lava. These lakes are contained within caldera-like structures — large basins formed when volcanoes erupt and collapse, Alessandro Mura, the study’s lead author, said in a statement.
Researchers believe the moon is full of vast lava lakes, in which magma rises and falls. The lava crust breaks against the steep walls of the lake, forming a ring similar to what occurs in Hawaiian lava lakes. These high barriers may be what prevents magma from spreading across Io’s entire surface.
But there is another hypothesis that cannot be ruled out: magma could emerge in the middle of the lake, spread out, and then form a crust that sinks along the edge of the lake, exposing the lava.
