NASA’s Galileo spacecraft captured this image of a volcanic eruption on Io in 1997. Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system, thanks to constant flexing brought on by the gravitational push and pull from Jupiter as well as fellow moons Ganymede and Europa. The extreme tidal forces generate a tremendous amount of heat within Io, keeping much of its subsurface crust in liquid form seeking any available escape route to the surface to relieve the pressure. Hundreds of huge volcanoes cover a surface only slightly larger than the Moon, with erupting lava fountains reaching dozens of miles high.
Credits
Image
NASA, NASA-JPL, DLR
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Io |
| Object Description | Volcanic eruption on Io |
| About The Data | |
| Instrument | Galileo: Solid-State Imaging |
| Exposure Dates | 28 June 1997 |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
