The discovery had not only astronomical, but also religious implications. Individually they were called Jupiter I, II, III and IV, with "IV" referring to what we now call Callisto. For two centuries Jupiter's moons were (as a group) named after the Medicis, a powerful Italian political family, according to NASA. At the time, it was believed that the Earth was the only planet with a moon. The planet was not alone it had four moons circling it. 7, 1610, what he saw surprised everybody. When Galileo turned his telescope to Jupiter on Jan. All four are bigger than Pluto, and Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, even bigger than Mercury.
#IO MOON SURFACE SERIES#
Through a series of flybys, IVO would use its radio transmitter to investigate whether Io truly has a magma ocean hidden beneath its surface.Jupiter's four largest moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - are also known as the Galilean moons, named after Galileo Galilei, who discovered them in 1610. No space agency has approved future plans for a mission to Io, though ideas like the Io Volcano Observer (IVO) have been proposed. The Juno team plans to conduct more flybys in 20 in hopes of unraveling more of Io’s many mysteries. In December 2022, Juno completed a close flyby of Io, which yielded a stunning infrared view of the moon’s volcanic surface and lava lakes. While the spacecraft’s primary mission focused on the gas giant, Juno has turned its attention to Ganymede, Europa, and Io in its extended mission. NASA’s Juno probe arrived at the Jupiter system in 2016. For context, there are about 1,350 to 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth, and a total of roughly 50 eruptions each year. Across six flybys, Galileo collected a vast array of infrared and visible images of Io and revealed that the moon experiences volcanic activity that could be 100 times greater than Earth’s. NASA’s Galileo spacecraft reached Jupiter in 1995 and orbited the planet for roughly eight years, exploring several of its moons, including Io. The probe confirmed six plumes that were previously spotted by Voyager 1. In the same year, Voyager 2 imaged volcanic plumes spewing material 100 kilometers (62 miles) into space. The spacecraft was also able to capture evidence of volcanic eruptions. In 1979, NASA’s Voyager 1 took pictures of Io that uncovered more about its thin atmosphere. Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to take up-close measurements of Io. NASA’s twin Pioneer 10 and 11 probes - which launched in 19, respectively - were the first spacecraft to investigate the Jupiter system in great detail. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that scientists began to understand how Jupiter’s gravitational field affects its third-largest moon. Io was discovered in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Whether that makes it a geological dystopia or utopia is for you to decide. It’s estimated that Io is home to roughly 400 active volcanoes, the lava from which can exceed 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit). The friction creates enough heat to melt solid rock into magma.Īll this chaos creates the perfect, hectic conditions for a volcano world like no other. As Io moves farther away, Jupiter’s gravitational effect weakens and the moon “ relaxes.” This constant stretching and squeezing, which sounds anything but relaxing, creates movement and friction between layers of rock beneath the moon’s surface. This brings it closer to Jupiter at times, increasing the planet’s gravitational pull and warping the shape of the moon. Io is also tugged on by its neighboring moons as they pass one another, making Io’s orbit around Jupiter slightly eccentric. Because it’s the closest moon to its massive host planet, Io feels a strong gravitational pull as it orbits Jupiter.
Io is the innermost of Jupiter’s four largest moons, which are also known as the Galilean moons ( Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are the remaining three). Learning more about Io can help us understand volcanism and the complex internal mechanisms in some of our Solar System’s worlds.
While Io and Earth both have volcanoes, eruptions on the Jovian moon are thought to be caused by very different factors.
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