Io, Jupiter’s third largest Galilean moon, is dotted with more than 400 active volcanoes that make it the most geologically active object in our Solar System. It was recently flown by Juno, the space probe launched by NASA in 2011 to study Jupiter and its moons. The data collected made it possible to create computer-generated image renderings which offer us a unique vision of Io’s surface.
In December 2023 and February 2024, Juno came within about 1,500 kilometers of the surface of Io at the moon’s northern latitudes. Juno mission scientists turned the collected data into an animation that reveals a cooling mountain and lake of lava that is almost smooth as glass.
A 200 km long lava lake on Io
“Io is simply full of volcanoes, and we caught a few in action,” adds Scott Bolton, principal investigator of the Juno mission. “ We also obtained stunning close-ups and other data of a 200 kilometer long lava lake called Loki Patera (…) The specular reflection of the lake recorded by our instruments suggests that parts of Io’s surface are also smooth only glass, reminiscent of obsidian created by volcanoes on Earth “.
According to NASA, data collected by Juno’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR) reveals that Io not only has a relatively smooth surface compared to Jupiter’s other Galilean moons, but also cooler poles than mid-latitudes.
One of the main scientific goals of the Juno mission is to help scientists better understand the abundance of water on Jupiter and beyond piece together the puzzle of the formation of our solar system.
