NASA’s Curiosity Jupiter probe is getting closer to Earth’s most unstable moon Io. The Juno spacecraft will make its closest flyby of a volcanic moon in more than 20 years, gathering valuable clues about its mysterious activities.
Juno will reportedly fly by Io on Saturday, December 30, 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) above the Jupiter moon’s hellish surface. NASA. The spacecraft observed Io during its previous flybys in May and July, at distances ranging from 6,830 miles (11,000 kilometers) to more than 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometers). This upcoming flyby is a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system.
“By combining data from this flyby with our previous observations, the Juno science team is studying changes in Io’s volcanoes,” Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton said in a statement. We’re looking at how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shapes of lava flows change, and how Io’s activity relates to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter’s magnetosphere.”
As Jupiter’s innermost large moon, Io is wedged between Jupiter’s massive gravity and the gravitational tug of its sister moons Europa and Ganymede. As a result, the moon is constantly being stretched and squeezed, which leads to its volcanic activity. The surface of Jupiter’s moon is home to hundreds of volcanoes and lakes of molten silicate lava.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been studying the Jupiter system since 2016, taking some iconic images of Jupiter and its icy moons Ganymede and Europa. In October, Juno captured an ominous view of Io, revealing its charred surface in space. Recent lunar landscapes so far.Juno also A warm family photo taken of Jupiter and Io In September, the gas giant and its moon appeared side by side.
During its upcoming flyby of Io, the spacecraft will focus all three cameras on the small moon. The Jupiter Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM), which takes infrared images, will collect heat signatures from volcanoes on the moon’s surface, while the spacecraft’s Stellar Reference Unit (Navigator Camera) will capture the highest-resolution images ever taken of Io’s surface. The JunoCam imager will take visible-light color images of the moon.
Juno plans to make its second close flyby of Io on February 3, 2024, when the spacecraft will enter a range of approximately 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the lunar surface.During the upcoming flyby, scientists will have the opportunity to collect data provided by Juno as well as Remote Observations with the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes.
“Through our two close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Io’s massive volcanism, the presence of a magma ocean beneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter,” Tidal forces squeezed the tortured moon relentlessly,” Bolton said.
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