Eruptions on Io break records

The turbulent moon’s new hot spot is five times larger than the previous record holder

Vast numbers of volcanoes have been spotted erupting from an area at the southern pole of Jupiter’s moon Io. Picked up by NASA’s Juno orbiter, the hot spot is the most powerful volcanic activity ever observed. With over 400 known volcanoes across its surface, Io is the most volcanic world in our Solar System. Its extreme geology stems from its close and highly elliptical orbit around Jupiter. Taking just 42.5 hours to orbit, the gravitational tug of war between planet and moon squeezes the rock inside Io, with the resulting friction creates a huge amount of heat. Juno has regularly passed by this tortured moon since it arrived at Jupiter in 2016. During a fly-by on 27 December 2024, the spacecraft’s instruments picked up a huge hot spot around the…

You're reading a preview of

BBC Sky at Night United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.