The discovery of the most volcanic moon in the solar system

After providing extensive detail on the natural satellites of Ganymede and Europa of our solar system’s largest planet Jupiter, NASA’s Juno space probe continued its mission to sister moon Io. This is how it has just revealed a stunning infrared image of its volcanic surface, just 80,000 kilometers away. It is covered with hundreds of volcanoes, from which lava fountains emanate. These observations will allow new discoveries related to the fourth largest moon of Jupiter.

On August 5, 2011, Juno NASA has embarked on a 5-year journey to the largest planet in our solar system, the gas giant Jupiter. Juno’s many discoveries have changed our view of the planet’s atmosphere and interior, revealing an atmospheric layer that extends far beyond its clouds and a deep interior with a core of diluted heavy elements. Towards the end of the main mission, as the spacecraft’s orbit develops, the Moon flies by Ganymede Juno’s transition to a new target has begun.

In effect, Juno has become a full-fledged explorer of the Jovian system, with additional flyby plans for the moons Europa and Io. Juno will also cross Tora Europa and Hor Io. These are “donut”-shaped clouds of charged particles that surround the orbit of each moon.

Recently, a breathtaking image of the moon Io on July 5, 2022 (nearly 11 years after its launch) reached the agency, revealing intense volcanic activity. The Juno mission is expected to acquire additional images of this JUMP moon starting December 15, as part of its ongoing exploration of Jupiter’s inner moons.

Several flights are planned

The NASA infrared image is produced from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard Juno. In this image, the higher the temperature recorded by JIRAM, the lighter the color. We can then distinguish very clearly the volcanic points that are scattered over almost the entire surface of the celestial body.

Scientists agree that this moon of Jupiter is the most volcanic place in the solar system. He will be in the spotlight for the next year and a half. Their exploration of the moon on December 15 will be the first of nine scheduled flybys, including two just 1,500 kilometers from its surface.

The Juno science team will use these flybys to conduct the first high-resolution natural satellite observation campaign, studying Io’s volcanoes and trying to determine how volcanic eruptions interact with Jupiter’s great magnetosphere and northern lights.

Search for water on Jupiter’s moons

As already mentioned, Juno has been in orbit of Jupiter for six years and also made several flybys of the planet’s four main moons – CallistoGanymede, Europa and now Io.

Scott Bolton, principal investigator for NASA’s Juno spacecraft, said in a statement communication :” With each close flight, we were able to glean a wealth of new information. Juno’s sensors are designed to study Jupiter, but we were thrilled to see how well they could do double duty in observing Jupiter’s moons. “.

Juno conducted its close flybys of Ganymede in 2021 and of Europe earlier this year. These flybys provided insight into the interior, surface and ionosphere composition of Ganymede, as well as its interaction with Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

In addition, preliminary results from Juno’s September 9 flyby of Europa include the first 3D observations of Europa’s ice crust. By the way, an image taken on September 29, 2022 at the highest resolution Juno can get, reveals this very cracked crust.

You should know that these two moons are of particular interest: both could hide an ocean of liquid water at depth, and thus potentially host some form of life.

During the flyby, Juno’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR) added a third dimension to exploration of Jupiter’s moon. It provided a groundbreaking look beneath the crust of water ice on Ganymede and Europa to obtain data on its structure, purity and temperature up to about 24 kilometers below the surface.

Obtained visible light images JunoCam In addition to previous missions to Jupiter, they indicate that Ganymede’s surface features a mixture of ancient dark terrain, younger bright terrain, and bright craters, as well as linear features potentially related to tectonic activity.

The European Space Agency’s Juice probe will leave Earth next year and focus its attention on Ganymede. NASA’s Clipper satellite, which will launch in 2024, will remain in orbit around Europe to provide more data.