Io is one of the large moons of Jupiter and the closest of the four Galilean moons . It ’s also the most volcanically alive property in the Solar System , and it continue to confirm this disc by revealing that it ’s form a brand newfangled vent in less than three decades .
The moon was last observe up close by NASA ’s Galileo mission , which studied it in the late nineties . NASA ’s Juno is currently studying Jupiter and has had the chance to pass nearIoa few times in recent months . The ballistic capsule used its JunoCam and infrared sensors to snap some photos as it did . Comparing images between the two missions , scientists noticed something : since 1997 , a new volcano has appear .
There are hundreds ofactive volcanoeson Io . The raw one is located just to the south of Io ’s equator and the Juno effigy show sweet lava stream and volcanic deposits covering an area of 32,400 solid km ( 12,510 solid miles ) . That ’s over 1.6 times the area of Wales .
Galileo’s image of the region taken in November 1997 compared to JunoCam’s from February 2024 clearly showing the new volcano.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
“ Our late JunoCam images show many changes on Io , including this magnanimous , complicated volcanic feature article that appears to have formed from nothing since 1997 , ” Michael Ravine , Advanced Projects Manager at Malin Space Science Systems , Inc. , which designed , developed , and operates JunoCam for the NASA Juno Project , enjoin in astatement .
Between 2023 and 2024 , Juno conducted three flybys of Io . It drive about 20close - up imagesof the Sun Myung Moon in color . They show a wealth of changes happening across the last 27 years . New lava flow have come out , unsurprisingly across the moon ’s surface , as well as more surface deposition . Nine plumes come from the active volcanos were recognise stretch far from the Ionian surface .
The new vent is located to the eastern United States of another volcanic feature present already in 1997 . Its name is Kanehekili . The new one remains nameless for now . The best figure of it was choose during the flyby ofFebruary 3 , 2024 .
JunoCam has redeem some incredible image and extremity of the public canaccess the cutting dataand do their own processing on them . Many citizen scientists have already done incredible work based on the views snap by Juno .
“ JunoCam images are created by citizenry from all pass of life , providing a way for anyone to join our science team and share in the excitement of blank exploration , ” enjoin Scott Bolton , the Principal Investigator of NASA ’s Juno missionary station at Southwest Research Institute .
The determination have been presented at the Europlanet Science Congress ( EPSC ) in Berlin this week .
