Thursday, February 13, 2025

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Juno Probe Spots Largest Identified Volcanic Occasion on Io


NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter for greater than eight years, probing the photo voltaic system’s largest planet with its suite of specialised devices. The mission’s prolonged mission has seen NASA flip its consideration to Jupiter’s moons, together with the tumultuous world of Io, the most volcanically lively location within the photo voltaic system. Even with that distinction, the workforce was shocked by the size of Juno’s newest discovery, which seems to be probably the most highly effective volcanic occasion ever recorded.

Since finishing its main science targets in orbit of Jupiter, Juno has been conducting flybys of the Jovian moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The spacecraft accomplished two very shut flybys in 2023 and 2024, passing inside 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Io’s floor. Its more moderen visits have been at a a lot greater altitude of 46,200 miles (74,400 kilometers), however you do not should be terribly near see Io’s megavolcano.

“Juno had two actually shut flybys of Io throughout Juno’s prolonged mission,” stated Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Analysis Institute. “And whereas every flyby supplied information on the tormented moon that exceeded our expectations, the information from this newest—and extra distant—flyby actually blew our minds. That is probably the most highly effective volcanic occasion ever recorded on probably the most volcanic world in our photo voltaic system — in order that’s actually saying one thing.”

The at the moment unnamed scorching spot is within the moon’s southern hemisphere, producing such a powerful warmth signature that Juno had no bother recognizing it with the JIRAM infrared imager designed to discover Jupiter’s cloud construction. Io’s southern volcanic rift covers roughly 40,000 sq. miles (100,000 sq. kilometers), dwarfing the earlier document holder, the lava lake Loki Patera, which is about 7,700 sq. miles (20,000 sq. kilometers).

JunoCam volcano

JunoCam noticed modifications within the floor of Io from the acute volcanic exercise..
Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

NASA estimates the volcano’s whole warmth radiance at greater than 80 trillion watts, which is six occasions extra energy than each energy plant on Earth mixed. Based mostly on the early information, the characteristic could include a number of intently related vents all fed by one monumental magma chamber.

Along with the infrared scans, Juno’s optical JunoCam was capable of spot floor modifications ensuing from the volcanic exercise. As seen above, the sooner 2024 flyby is far clearer, however even from a better distance, the Dec. 27 flyby reveals reworking. The workforce is anxious to get extra information on this characteristic, they usually’ll get an opportunity quickly. Juno is ready for one more Io go on March 3. At the moment, Juno will seek for extra floor alterations. It might even be potential to look at the Io megavolcano utilizing Earth-based devices, resulting in a better understanding of Io particularly and volcanism normally.

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