Huge new volcano spotted on Jupiter’s moon Io

Science: By comparing images taken by two NASA missions more than a quarter-century apart, researchers have discovered a new giant active volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io. The new volcano was photographed by NASA’s Juno spacecraft and its JunoCam as it passed over the volcanic mass in the solar system on February 3 this year. The image was taken of Io’s night side and is illuminated only by sunlight reflected from Jupiter. Comparison with Galileo spacecraft images of the same region taken just south of Io’s equator in November 1997 shows that there are no known volcanic features at the site and that there have been no major features or impacts in the region for 27 years confirming its extent. Io is volcanically active, it was announced this week at the European Planetary Science Council (EPSC) in Berlin.

Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. designed, developed and operates JunoCam for NASA’s Juno Project. “The current JunoCam images show many changes to Io, including this vast and complex volcanic landscape that appears to have emerged from nothingness since 1997,” Io Advanced Project Manager Michael said in a statement to Europanet. The JunoCam image shows a red area on the eastern side of the volcano, which is thought to be sulfur that was previously ejected into space and then returned to Io’s surface. To the west, two dark lava flows are about 100 km long and are surrounded by two circular brown deposits.