NASA Unveils Image Of Volcano-Laced Surface On Jupiter’s Moon

NASA recently released an infrared image of Jupiter’s moon Io captured by its Juno spacecraft 50,000 miles away. The stunning image shows a bright red landscape with flowing lava lakes, and is part of the capsule’s route as it continues to explore the planet’s inner moons. 

Juno is currently in the second year of its extended mission to investigate the interior of Jupiter, and the solar-powered spacecraft reached Io after flying past Ganymede in 2021 and Europa earlier this year. 

“The team is really excited to have Juno’s extended mission include the study of Jupiter’s moons. With each close flyby, we have been able to obtain a wealth of new information,” said Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute. 

According to NDTV, the mission confirmed Io was a “true volcanic wonderland with hundreds of erupting volcanoes gushing tons of molten lava.” Interestingly, the moon suffers from harsh tides that pull and crush it as it travels along the gravitational pull of Jupiter. 

This flyby will be the first of nine trips Juno will make to the moon, which it will focus its attention on for the next year and a half. Two of the upcoming visits will happen from just 930 miles away, with scientists poised to perform the first high-resolution monitoring campaign on its volcanic eruptions.

[via NDTV and NASA, images via NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM]