In the new shot, Io appears red due to the infrared light captured by JIRAM, but the best approximation of what it would look like to the human eye shows a predominantly yellowish globe, punctuated by green and black blemishes.Īpproximately true-colour image of Io from the Galileo spacecraft. The moon even has lakes of molten silicate lava – molten mixtures dominated by oxygen and silicon – on its surface. Io is described by NASA as 'the most volcanic place in the solar system', with hundreds of volcanoes erupting fountains of lava. The brightest spots in the image – which look like an array of Christmas lights – indicate the highest temperatures. The image of the volcano-laced surface of Io was captured in infrared by JIRAM as Juno flew by at a distance of about 50,000 miles (80,000 km) on July 5, 2022. 'Juno sensors are designed to study Jupiter, but we’ve been thrilled at how well they can perform double duty by observing Jupiter's moons.' 'The team is really excited to have Juno’s extended mission include the study of Jupiter’s moons,' said Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. It was planned to conclude in February 2018 after completing 37 orbits of Jupiter, but was commissioned through 2025 to do a further 42 orbits. The spacecraft is now in the second year of its extended mission to investigate the interior of Jupiter. Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016 after making a five-year journey, and it will keep making fly-bys of the planet and its moons until 2025.
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