5 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-pia26484-io-north-polar-region.png?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThe north polar region of Jupiter\u2019s volcanic moon Io was captured by NASA\u2019s Juno during spacecraft\u2019s the 57th close pass of the gas giant on Dec. 30, 2023. Data from recent flybys is helping scientists understand Io\u2019s interior. <\/div>\nImage data: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS
Image processing by Gerald Eichst\u00e4dt<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA new study points to why, and how, Io became the most volcanic body in the solar system.<\/em><\/p>\nScientists with NASA\u2019s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than an ocean of magma. The finding solves a 44-year-old mystery about the subsurface origins of the moon\u2019s most demonstrative geologic features.<\/p>\n
A paper <\/a>on the source of Io\u2019s volcanism was published on Thursday, Dec. 12, in the journal Nature, and the findings, as well as other Io science results, were discussed during a media briefing in Washington at the American Geophysical Union\u2019s annual meeting, the country\u2019s largest gathering of Earth and space scientists.<\/p>\nAbout the size of Earth\u2019s Moon, Io is known as the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The moon is home to an estimated 400 volcanoes, which blast lava and plumes in seemingly continuous eruptions that contribute to the coating on its surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>This animated tour of Jupiter\u2019s fiery moon Io, based on data collected by NASA\u2019s Juno mission, shows volcanic plumes, a view of lava on the surface, and the moon\u2019s internal structure. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/Koji Kuramura\/Gerald Eichst\u00e4dt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAlthough the moon was discovered by Galileo Galilei on Jan. 8, 1610, volcanic activity there wasn\u2019t discovered until 1979, when imaging scientist Linda Morabito of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California first identified a volcanic plume in an image<\/a> from the agency\u2019s Voyager 1<\/a> spacecraft.<\/p>\n\u201cSince Morabito\u2019s discovery, planetary scientists have wondered how the volcanoes were fed from the lava underneath the surface,\u201d said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. \u201cWas there a shallow ocean of white-hot magma fueling the volcanoes, or was their source more localized? We knew data from Juno\u2019s two very close flybys could give us some insights on how this tortured moon actually worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Juno spacecraft made extremely close flybys of Io in December 2023<\/a> and February 2024<\/a>, getting within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of its pizza-faced surface. During the close approaches, Juno communicated with NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network<\/a>, acquiring high-precision, dual-frequency Doppler data, which was used to measure Io\u2019s gravity by tracking how it affected the spacecraft\u2019s acceleration. What the mission learned about the moon\u2019s gravity from those flybys led to the new paper by revealing more details about the effects of a phenomenon called tidal flexing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/e2-pia09665.gif?w=512\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThis five-frame sequence shows a giant plume erupting from Io\u2019s Tvashtar volcano, extending 200 miles (330 kilometers) above the fiery moon\u2019s surface. It was captured over an eight-minute period by NASA\u2019s New Horizons mission as the spacecraft flew by Jupiter in 2007.<\/div>\nNASA\/Johns Hopkins APL\/SwRI<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPrince of Jovian Tides<\/strong><\/h3>\nIo is extremely close to mammoth Jupiter, and its elliptical orbit whips it around the gas giant once every 42.5 hours. As the distance varies, so does Jupiter\u2019s gravitational pull, which leads to the moon being relentlessly squeezed. The result: an extreme case of tidal flexing \u2014 friction from tidal forces that generates internal heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis constant flexing creates immense energy, which literally melts portions of Io\u2019s interior,\u201d said Bolton. \u201cIf Io has a global magma ocean, we knew the signature of its tidal deformation would be much larger than a more rigid, mostly solid interior. Thus, depending on the results from Juno\u2019s probing of Io\u2019s gravity field, we would be able to tell if a global magma ocean was hiding beneath its surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Juno team compared Doppler data from their two flybys with observations from the agency\u2019s previous missions to the Jovian system and from ground telescopes. They found tidal deformation consistent with Io not having a shallow global magma ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cJuno\u2019s discovery that tidal forces do not always create global magma oceans does more than prompt us to rethink what we know about Io\u2019s interior,\u201d said lead author Ryan Park, a Juno co-investigator and supervisor of the Solar System Dynamics Group at JPL. \u201cIt has implications for our understanding of other moons, such as Enceladus and Europa, and even exoplanets and super-Earths. Our new findings provide an opportunity to rethink what we know about planetary formation and evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s more science on the horizon. The spacecraft made its 66th<\/sup> science flyby over Jupiter\u2019s mysterious cloud tops on Nov. 24. Its next close approach to the gas giant will occur 12:22 a.m. EST, Dec. 27. At the time of perijove, when Juno\u2019s orbit is closest to the planet\u2019s center, the spacecraft will be about 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers) above Jupiter\u2019s cloud tops and will have logged 645.7 million miles (1.039 billion kilometers) since entering the gas giant\u2019s orbit in 2016.<\/p>\nMore About Juno<\/strong><\/h3>\nJPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) funded the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft. Various other institutions around the U.S. provided several of the other scientific instruments on Juno.<\/p>\n
More information about Juno is available at:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/juno<\/a><\/p>\nNews Media Contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\nDC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nKaren Fox \/ Erin Morton
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-385-1287 \/ 202-805-9393
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0erin.morton@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nDeb Schmid
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio
210-522-2254
dschmid@swri.org<\/a><\/p>\n2024-173<\/p>\n
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![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/1-pia26484-io-north-polar-region.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>Image processing by Gerald Eichst\u00e4dt<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A new study points to why, and how, Io became the most volcanic body in the solar system.<\/em><\/p>\n Scientists with NASA\u2019s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than an ocean of magma. The finding solves a 44-year-old mystery about the subsurface origins of the moon\u2019s most demonstrative geologic features.<\/p>\n A paper <\/a>on the source of Io\u2019s volcanism was published on Thursday, Dec. 12, in the journal Nature, and the findings, as well as other Io science results, were discussed during a media briefing in Washington at the American Geophysical Union\u2019s annual meeting, the country\u2019s largest gathering of Earth and space scientists.<\/p>\n About the size of Earth\u2019s Moon, Io is known as the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The moon is home to an estimated 400 volcanoes, which blast lava and plumes in seemingly continuous eruptions that contribute to the coating on its surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although the moon was discovered by Galileo Galilei on Jan. 8, 1610, volcanic activity there wasn\u2019t discovered until 1979, when imaging scientist Linda Morabito of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California first identified a volcanic plume in an image<\/a> from the agency\u2019s Voyager 1<\/a> spacecraft.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Morabito\u2019s discovery, planetary scientists have wondered how the volcanoes were fed from the lava underneath the surface,\u201d said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. \u201cWas there a shallow ocean of white-hot magma fueling the volcanoes, or was their source more localized? We knew data from Juno\u2019s two very close flybys could give us some insights on how this tortured moon actually worked.\u201d<\/p>\n The Juno spacecraft made extremely close flybys of Io in December 2023<\/a> and February 2024<\/a>, getting within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of its pizza-faced surface. During the close approaches, Juno communicated with NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network<\/a>, acquiring high-precision, dual-frequency Doppler data, which was used to measure Io\u2019s gravity by tracking how it affected the spacecraft\u2019s acceleration. What the mission learned about the moon\u2019s gravity from those flybys led to the new paper by revealing more details about the effects of a phenomenon called tidal flexing.<\/p>\n Io is extremely close to mammoth Jupiter, and its elliptical orbit whips it around the gas giant once every 42.5 hours. As the distance varies, so does Jupiter\u2019s gravitational pull, which leads to the moon being relentlessly squeezed. The result: an extreme case of tidal flexing \u2014 friction from tidal forces that generates internal heat.<\/p>\n \u201cThis constant flexing creates immense energy, which literally melts portions of Io\u2019s interior,\u201d said Bolton. \u201cIf Io has a global magma ocean, we knew the signature of its tidal deformation would be much larger than a more rigid, mostly solid interior. Thus, depending on the results from Juno\u2019s probing of Io\u2019s gravity field, we would be able to tell if a global magma ocean was hiding beneath its surface.\u201d<\/p>\n The Juno team compared Doppler data from their two flybys with observations from the agency\u2019s previous missions to the Jovian system and from ground telescopes. They found tidal deformation consistent with Io not having a shallow global magma ocean.<\/p>\n \u201cJuno\u2019s discovery that tidal forces do not always create global magma oceans does more than prompt us to rethink what we know about Io\u2019s interior,\u201d said lead author Ryan Park, a Juno co-investigator and supervisor of the Solar System Dynamics Group at JPL. \u201cIt has implications for our understanding of other moons, such as Enceladus and Europa, and even exoplanets and super-Earths. Our new findings provide an opportunity to rethink what we know about planetary formation and evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s more science on the horizon. The spacecraft made its 66th<\/sup> science flyby over Jupiter\u2019s mysterious cloud tops on Nov. 24. Its next close approach to the gas giant will occur 12:22 a.m. EST, Dec. 27. At the time of perijove, when Juno\u2019s orbit is closest to the planet\u2019s center, the spacecraft will be about 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers) above Jupiter\u2019s cloud tops and will have logged 645.7 million miles (1.039 billion kilometers) since entering the gas giant\u2019s orbit in 2016.<\/p>\n JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) funded the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft. Various other institutions around the U.S. provided several of the other scientific instruments on Juno.<\/p>\n More information about Juno is available at:<\/p>\n https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/juno<\/a><\/p>\n DC Agle Karen Fox \/ Erin Morton Deb Schmid 2024-173<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>Prince of Jovian Tides<\/strong><\/h3>\n
More About Juno<\/strong><\/h3>\n
News Media Contacts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-385-1287 \/ 202-805-9393
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0erin.morton@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio
210-522-2254
dschmid@swri.org<\/a><\/p>\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n