Looking Into an Io Volcano
Explanation:
What would it look like to peer into one of the
volcanoes currently active on
Jupiter's moon
Io?
The
caldera of Tupan Patera, named after a
Brazilian thunder god,
reveals itself to be a strange and dangerous place,
replete with hot black
lava, warm red
sulfur deposits likely deposited from vented gas, and
hilly yellow terrain also high in sulfur.
The
robot spacecraft Galileo
currently orbiting Jupiter provided the
above vista late last year when it swooped by the active world.
Tupan Patera is actually a
volcanic depression,
surrounded by cliffs nearly a kilometer high.
The width of the depression is about 75 kilometers.
As Galileo has filled its mission objectives and is running low on
maneuvering fuel,
NASA plans to crash the spacecraft into
Jupiter
during 2003.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
