A Continuous Eruption on Jupiters Moon Io
Explanation:
A volcano on Jupiter's moon
Io has been photographed recently during an ongoing eruption.
Hot glowing lava is visible on the left on
this representative-color image.
A glowing landscape of plateaus and valleys covered in
sulfur and
silicate rock surrounds the active
volcano.
Many features including several of the
dark spots have
evolved between February 2000, when the
robot spacecraft Galileo currently orbiting
Jupiter took this picture, and November 1999.
Io is slightly larger than
Earth's Moon and is the
closest large moon to
Jupiter.
The
above image shows a region about 250 kilometers across.
How the
internal structure of Io creates these
active volcanoes
remains under investigation.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
