Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has detected a large new active volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system. The discovery was made by comparing recent images from JunoCam to older ones taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1997.
The newly identified volcanic feature was absent in images from 1997, indicating the volcano emerged sometime in the past 27 years. This comparison highlights Io’s dynamic and evolving volcanic landscape.
JunoCam captured the images of Io’s nightside, illuminated by sunlight reflected from Jupiter, during a February 2023 flyby. The observation was part of a mission to study volcanic activity on the moon.
The new volcano’s east side shows red-stained regions, likely caused by sulphur ejected into space and later deposited back onto Io’s surface. Dark lava flows extend about 62 miles (100 km) on the west side of the feature.
Across multiple flybys in 2023 and 2024, JunoCam detected nine active volcanic plumes on Io, along with other surface changes such as new lava flows, further reinforcing Io’s intense volcanic activity.
Io’s volcanic activity is generated by gravitational forces from Jupiter and its neighboring moons, Europa and Ganymede. These forces create internal friction within Io, producing heat that drives its widespread eruptions.
Juno, launched in 2011, completed its primary mission in 2021 but is now in an extended mission phase until 2025. The spacecraft continues to provide valuable data on Jupiter and its moons, with ongoing publication of JunoCam images.