Io It will be a dream destination for Volcano lovers.If there is no average temperature -143°CAnd the sulfurous atmosphere and radiation that would disrupt any form of electronics. If you add the many lava lakes to this, it is understandable why. NASA Io is also referred to as the “Hell Moon”.
At least virtual space tourists won't have to make the long trek across the hostile surface to see the infamous giant lava lakes. Because they're there. According to a recent study Everywhere on Io.
➤ Read more: Video: NASA space probe races over Jupiter at 211,000 km/h
Tide, Hell Style
almost 3 percent Io's surface is made up of lava lakes, according to researchers. This was discovered using the instrument JeramThis is on the Jupiter probe. JunoIt was used to take infrared images of Io during flybys in May and October 2023.
What makes the lava lakes on Io special is that they are… Mainly from the crust Covered. However, the lava is liquid at the edges. The theory behind its formation is that magma rises and falls in lakes. This change in level causes the crust to break at the edges, which is why you can see liquid lava there.
A typical lava lake on Io, recorded with JIRAM. The bright ring is the liquid lava at the edge of the lake.
© NASA
This level change likely occurs periodically and is due to a huge underground store of magma that feeds numerous lava lakes through tunnel systems – basically a hell moon version of TidesJust as our Moon is responsible for the tides on Earth, the gravity of Jupiter and its other large moons — Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede — may be responsible for causing magma underground to rise and fall.
The walls of the lake are hundreds of metres high.
As a result of this constant movement, the walls of the lakes have risen to several hundred meters, the researchers believe. This would explain why the lava lakes have not been flooded, despite the ongoing volcanic activity on Io.
NASA recently showed what a lava lake looks like. The animation shows Loki Patera, a 200-kilometer-long lava lake with islands.
Juno has been traveling in space since 2011.
The Juno spacecraft is 2011 Started from the ground. Since 2016 It is in orbit around Jupiter.
➤ Read more: Video: NASA space probe races over Jupiter at 211,000 km/h
After completing its primary mission there, NASA chose not to participate. 2021 Flights near the moons Ganymede, Europa and Io It was previously feared that traveling to these moons would expose Juno to too much radiation and damage the instruments.
End of mission for September 2025 The plan is if Juno is operational by then. It should then fall in a controlled manner into Jupiter's atmosphere. BurntThis is to prevent the unsterilized probe from colliding with one of Jupiter's moons and taking it with it. Microorganisms of Earth Contaminated.
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