The JunoCam instrument on NASA's Juno spacecraft has discovered the truth about the giant black spot that appeared on the "hell" of the Solar System.
According to Sci-News, new images sent back to Earth by the Juno spacecraft show a large dark area on Jupiter's moon Io, identified as many lava flows and volcanic deposits covering an area of about 180x180 km.
Io is one of Jupiter's largest moons, slightly larger than Earth's moon.
It was discovered in the early 17th century by the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei, along with three other Jupiter moons, Ganymede, Calisto, and Europa, forming the group of four "Galilean moons".
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| New images (left) show a new supervolcano emerging, and previous infrared images show multiple volcanoes erupting simultaneously on Io - Photo: NASA |
Io is the most volcanically active celestial body in the Solar System with over 400 active volcanoes.
Io's intense volcanic activity is the result of tidal heating generated by friction within the moon as it is pulled between Jupiter and its neighboring moons Europa and Ganymede.
The newly discovered volcano lies just south of Io's equator.
It appeared in an area that was only seen in images taken by NASA's Galileo mission in 1997, so scientists concluded it must be a new supervolcano.
The eastern side of the new volcano has a diffuse red color from sulfur that is spewed into space by the volcano and falls back onto Io's surface.
To the west, two streams of black lava erupted, each about 100 km long.
At the farthest point of the flow, where the lava gathered, the temperature caused the frozen material on the surface to evaporate, creating two overlapping circular layers of gray sediment.
From an altitude of more than 2,500 kilometers, the Juno spacecraft clearly captured a total of nine plumes associated with active volcanic features on Io as well as other changes, such as new lava flows and other surface deposits.
This is an exciting discovery for NASA because Io is very special. In the Solar System, only this moon and Earth have confirmed strong volcanic activity at the present time.
Vibrant geological activity is an integral part of making a planet capable of generating and sustaining life.
While life is not expected to be found on Io, a world where geological activity has gone into overdrive and turned into hell, it is a special "laboratory" to complement research on other distant worlds.
According to Nguoi Lao Dong
Source: https://tienphong.vn/tau-vu-tru-nasa-tim-thay-sieu-nui-lua-moi-cua-he-mat-troi-post1673334.tpo
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