Juno’s Microwave Vision Peers beneath Surface of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io
NASA's Juno spacecraft has used microwave radiometry to measure temperatures beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon, Io. The data reveals significant heat movement from the interior, providing new insights into the moon's volcanic activity.
Why it matters
Understanding the internal heat dynamics of Io helps scientists better comprehend tidal heating processes that affect moons throughout the solar system.
New data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft show temperatures spike more than 20 degrees Celsius just a few meters under Io’s surface, providing the first look at what’s happening below the crust of the Solar System’s most volcanic world.
The north polar region of Io was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on December 30, 2023. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt.
Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in our Solar System.
It is constantly stretched and squeezed by Jupiter’s gravity, generating enormous amounts of internal heat.
Until now, almost all observations of this heat came from infrared measurements that sense only the surface skin temperature.
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