NASA’s curious spacecraft, Juno, is getting close to Jupiter’s most unstable moon, Io. The Juno spacecraft will make the closest approach any mission has made to the fiery moon in more than 20 years, gathering valuable clues about its mysterious activities.
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Juno will make its approach to Io on Saturday, December 30, coming as close as 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) to the surface of Jupiter’s hellish moon, according to NASA. The spacecraft has observed Io during previous approaches in May and July from distances between 6,830 miles (11,000 kilometers) to more than 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometers). This upcoming approach is a rare opportunity to get close to and study Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system.
“By combining data from this approach with previous observations, the Juno team of scientists is studying how Io’s volcanoes vary,” said Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator, in a statement. “We find out how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shape of the lava flows changes, and how Io’s activity is connected to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter’s magnetosphere.”
As the innermost of Jupiter’s large moons, Io is squeezed between Jupiter’s immense gravitational pull and the gravitational pull of its sister moons Europa and Ganymede. As a result, the moon is constantly being pulled and stretched, which contributes to its volcanic activity. This moon of Jupiter has hundreds of volcanoes and lakes of molten silicate lava on its surface.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been studying the Jupiter system since 2016, capturing several iconic images of Jupiter and its icy moons, Ganymede and Europa. In October, Juno captured Io’s menacing view, revealing its scorched surface in the closest view of the moon so far. Juno also captured an intimate family photo of Jupiter and Io in September, revealing the gas giant and the moon side by side.
During its upcoming closest approach to Io, the spacecraft will focus its three cameras on this small moon. JIRAM (Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper), which takes images in the infrared, will collect heat signatures emitted by volcanoes on the lunar surface, while the spacecraft’s stellar reference unit (navigation camera) will take the highest-resolution images of Io’s surface ever taken. . The JunoCam imager will take color images of visible light from this moon.
Juno is scheduled for its second closest approach with Io on February 3, 2024, when the spacecraft will approach the lunar surface by about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers). During the approach, scientists will have the opportunity to collect data provided by Juno combined with remote observations by the Hubble and Webb space telescopes.
“With our two closest approaches in December and February, Juno will probe the source of Io’s massive volcanic activity, whether there is a magma ocean beneath its crust, and the significance of tidal forces from Jupiter that continually squeeze this suffering moon,” Bolton said.
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2024-01-01 11:18:35
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