The Juno spacecraft has brought back to Earth some of the best and clearest images of Io, the most volcanic world in the solar system.
During Jupiter’s next close pass, the NASA spacecraft managed to land at a fairly close distance by space standards to one of the main moons of the gas giant Io. As a result, the device took a series of stunning images of the satellite’s surface using its JunoCam camera, which is currently considered one of the best images of Io, writes ScienceAlert.
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The fourth largest moon in the solar system, Io is part of the so-called Galilean moons of Jupiter, along with Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. But Io is closer to the planet than the other three moons, being the third largest moon among them.
Io is not where scientists hope to find life, as it is the most volcanic moon in our system. It is believed that there are more than 400 volcanoes that constantly spew sulfur and sulfur dioxide high up on its surface. Some volcanoes can eject material up to 500 km high.
Despite the presence of numerous volcanoes, Io’s surface is mostly flat and, unlike the icy moons of Jupiter and other planets in the outer solar system, is covered with frozen sulfur or sulfur dioxide, not water ice.
The Juno spacecraft, designed to study Jupiter and has been doing so since 2016, managed to approach Io at a distance of 51.5 thousand km on March 1 this year. During this approach, the JunoCam camera captured many of the moon’s features, providing the best images of Io since New Horizons captured Pluto in 2006.
Some scientists liken the surface of Io to the appearance of pizza, because it is equally diverse and variegated, and even has a yellowish tint due to the presence of sulfur. The new images show the volcanic surface of Io, with many unique features.
In fact, JunoCam images are processed by so-called citizen scientists who help NASA. In general, initially scientists did not plan to use this camera for scientific research, but it turned out to be very effective and can be used to create wonderful photos.
According to Jason Perry, one of the Juno imaging experts, the images show massive lava flows stretching for hundreds of kilometers in the form of rivers of lava.
Juno has made the third of nine planned approaches to Io and will then take pictures of the satellite from a distance of 35,000 km in May of this year. The device will fly very close to Io only in February 2024 – at a distance of 1500 km.
As already written Focus, astronomers have discovered two new planets orbiting a star very similar to the Sun, 175 light-years away. The most interesting thing is that one of these planets is very similar to Jupiter, and the second to Neptune.
Moreover Focus He wrote that scientists say whether a bullet can pass through Jupiter.
As for other moons of Jupiter, scientists recently learned why strange red stripes appear on Europa’s surface, as I wrote earlier. Focus.
Source: Focus
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