NASA mission captures new view of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io

By Amira Shehata

Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 11:00 p.m

I took the Juno satellite mission to NASA A new image of Jupiter with its volcanic moon Io. Juno captured this new view as it passed Io before its 53rd Jupiter flyby. This image captures Jupiter in the foreground with a close-up of the planet’s colorful cloud bands and swirling spots. , part of the Io program. Pictured in the background is the moon’s dark, molten red surface.

According to the website,Space“, which uses raw data from the tool JunogameScientist Alain Miron Velázquez produced this dramatic scene by enhancing the contrast, color and sharpness of celestial objects.

The spacecraft was about 32,170 miles (about 51,770 kilometers) from Io and about 245,000 miles (about 395,000 kilometers) from Jupiter’s cloud tops when the picture was taken, according to a NASA statement.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has a total of 92 moons. Jupiter’s fifth moon, Io, is slightly larger than Earth’s moon and the fourth largest moon in the Solar System.

Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System and is home to hundreds of volcanoes that regularly erupt with molten lava, spewing sulfur gas hundreds of miles into the atmosphere.

Recent close flybys of Io have allowed scientists to study the volcanic moon and its surface in more detail.

“Juno has provided scientists with the closest view of Io since 2007, and the spacecraft will collect additional images and data from its suite of science instruments during its closest flyby in late 2023 and early 2024,” NASA officials said in a statement.

And pictures I have collected Juno Access to the spacecraft’s raw data, available to the public online, has allowed scientists to make thousands of important scientific discoveries since Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016.