It has the most active volcanoes of any moon or planet. Io is known for it’s volcanos, with some people calling it the volcano moon.Io became one of Zeus’s many lovers, which is where all the 4 Galilean moons take their name from. Io was a priestess of the Goddess Hera, wife of Zeus. Io takes it’s name from Greek mythology.Io orbits Jupiter at an approximately 262,000 mi (421,700 km) distance from the planets center.This makes it the 3rd largest of the 4 main moons. Io is the closest moon to Jupiter out of the Galilean moons, and the 5th closest out of all it’s moons.They are named this because they were all discovered first of Jupiter‘s moons, by Galileo Galilei. Lets learn some of the facts about the moon, Io. This moon famous for it’s large volcanoes and sky high temperatures has been the study of many astronomers over the years who wonder how it was formed.
#Io moon surface series#
This article is part of a series on the moons of Jupiter.If you’re looking to learn some facts about the moon Io, then you’re in luck. In fact, following Voyager 1's first encounter with the moon, Voyager 2 also paid a visit, revealing that several regions were already much different than they previously were. All in all, these interactions cause Io's surface to rise and fall by about 300 feet (100 meters) - the highest ocean tides on Earth only reach about 60 feet (18 meters).Īs a result of this continuous lava flow, Io's surface features are prone to change (including ridding the moon of impact craters). Additionally, on Earth, plate tectonics generally result in subsurface bodies of magma peeking out through the Earth's crust, but on Io, tidal forces from Jupiter cause the magma to bulge out, before forcing it back down, which keep the magma in a liquid state and flowing continuously. Ultimately, Jupiter's extreme gravity (coupled with Jupiter's other moons) puts an exorbitant amount of tidal stress on Io. making it the innermost of the four Galilean moons (the other three are Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), which also, to a smaller degree, contribute to the tidal stresses that make Io so vivacious. For comparison, the Moon orbits Earth at a distance of 239,000 miles (380,000 km), but remember, Jupiter is also A LOT larger than the Earth. The moon orbits the Jupiter (the giant of the solar system) from a distance of about 260,000 miles (422, 000 kilometers). Instead, the source of energy used to power its volcanoes comes directly from tidal stresses exerted on Io by the behemoth Jupiter. On Earth (and most of the other objects in our solar system that still experience geological activity), the source of plate tectonics comes from the internal heating of radioactive isotope decay (Earth also capitalizes on the energy left over from the Earth's formation) however, Io is not fueled by energy leftover from its formation, as the moon is much too small to have retained any of that accreational heat. In addition to this, Io can shoot lava hundreds of miles into space. There are a number of volcanoes on this world that produce plumes of sulfur that shoot up 300 miles (500 km) above the surface. Loki (named after the Norse god of mischief) may not be the largest volcano in our solar system (that honor would go to Olympus Mons on Mars), but it is certainly the most powerful. The volcano has a staggering diameter of 126 miles (202 km), but more incredible than its size is the molten underground lava lake feeding Loki its material. The most impressive of these volcanoes is the aptly named Loki. Since then, more than 150 active volcanoes have been detected and mapped (almost 400 are predicted to exist). If there was a contest for the most un-Earth like world, Io would be one of the top contenders. Without a doubt, the most interesting thing about Io is its huge quantity of active volcanoes. As you can see, this volcanism makes the moon look more like a large ball of cheese (or a terribly unappealing pizza) than an actual world.Īctive volcanoes are relatively unheard of in our solar system (it is largely filled with objects that are geologically dead) however, when the Voyager Spacecraft went to explore Io back in the late 70's, it observed more than EIGHT active eruptions as it made a flyby.
0 kommentar(er)
