NASA’s Juno spacecraft has revealed new images of the most volcanically active world in our Solar System, Jupiter’s moon Io. The moon boasts over 400 active volcanoes and a massive hotspot near its south pole, larger than Lake Superior.
During its latest flyby, Juno’s JIRAM instrument captured an enormous volcanic hotspot with eruptions six times more energetic than all of Earth’s power plants. The images show the hot spot radiating at an unprecedented level of 80 trillion watts.
Tidal heating caused by Jupiter’s massive gravitational pull leads to Io’s internal heat and volcanic activity. The moon’s surface is constantly being reshaped as it orbits the gas giant, creating an endless series of plumes and ash that make Io the most volcanically active body in the Solar System.
Juno’s extended mission has allowed scientists to track changes on Io’s surface with each flyby. The latest images reveal a feature larger than Loki Patera, a lake of lava detected in 2015, covering an area of 100,000 square kilometers.
Scientists are eager to study this phenomenon further, hoping to uncover the secrets behind Io’s extreme volcanic activity and its potential implications for understanding volcanism on other worlds. The discovery is expected to rewrite the record books and provide valuable insights into the long-term evolution of Io’s volcanic activity.
Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-captures-most-intense-volcanic-eruption-ever-on-jupiters-moon-io