NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently observed a massive hot spot near the south pole of Io, the most volcanic world in our solar system. The “JIRAM” instrument detected heat and found several closely spaced hot spots, indicating a giant eruption of lava from a vast underground chamber. According to Alessandro Mura, a Juno scientist, this is the most intense volcanic eruption ever recorded on Io.
Io, about the size of Earth’s moon, is home to hundreds of active volcanoes due to its gravitational tug-of-war with nearby objects, including Jupiter and its moons. However, new observations suggest that Io does not contain a global magma ocean beneath its surface. Instead, each volcano may harbor its own chamber of magma.
The newly discovered volcanic feature covers an area of 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers), surpassing the previous record holder, Loki Patera. NASA plans to investigate this new site further with another flyby on March 3.
Source: https://mashable.com/article/nasa-io-moon-extreme-volcanic-eruption-detection