NASA releases images of the most volcanic world in our solar system: it is close to Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and has 70 moons orbiting it.

Our solar system is still there It holds many unknowns NASA is trying to solve it. Over the past weekend, the US space agency Published new images of Jupiter's icy moon. The images were taken by the Juno spacecraft about 930 miles from the surface of this celestial body. The most amazing thing is that ancient volcanic activity has been seen.

Thanks to new technologies available in space exploration, NASA has been able to find many unknown celestial bodies. Best of all, we already know these objects floating in space Now it can be seen in a completely different, and much better, way!

Io is a moon with incredible volcanic activity

On December 30, NASA released images of Jupiter's volcanic and icy moon. This natural satellite has been known for decades, but now experts have managed to publish very interesting photos of it. The first thing that was recognized was that its surface was littered with the remains of intense volcanic activity.

Surface of Jupiter's moon Io. The image shows the ancient volcanic activity of this natural satellite. Source: NASA

Comparisons with Earth can help us get an idea of ​​the differences. Our planet is almost suffering, according to A recent article by Popsci, about 50 eruptions per year. Instead, Io may have had 100 times more volcanic activity. One reason for this has been explained In the gravitational pull exerted by Jupiter on the Moon.

NASA revealed that this was the closest flyby ever of Io. Although there is already another similarity to the Galileo spacecraft in 2001, The study conducted on December 30, 2023 provided more data. Not surprisingly, the difference is more than two decades of technological improvement. On this occasion, the mission monitored the volcanic activity of this moon from a distance of about 6,830 miles.

NASA's Scott Bolton: “Juno orbiting Jupiter's north pole is unlike anything we've ever seen or imagined before.” pic.twitter.com/atvCEZkLTo

– Luis Alberto Olivero (@477lao) September 3, 2016

Scott Bolton, one of Principal investigators of the Juno missionas this exploration was named, stated the following: “We're looking at how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shape of the lava flow changes, and how Io's activity relates to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Right now, Io still has many secrets for humans. Current research suggests that magma oceans may exist beneath the surface of this moon. We will have to wait for new studies to confirm these theories. The Juno mission shows us how far humans have come in their knowledge of the universe that surrounds them.