{"id":816784,"date":"2025-01-03T07:20:51","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T13:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/inside-io-nasas-juno-reveals-hidden-magma-chambers-fueling-endless-eruptions\/"},"modified":"2025-01-03T07:20:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T13:20:51","slug":"inside-io-nasas-juno-reveals-hidden-magma-chambers-fueling-endless-eruptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/inside-io-nasas-juno-reveals-hidden-magma-chambers-fueling-endless-eruptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Io: NASA\u2019s Juno Reveals Hidden Magma Chambers Fueling Endless Eruptions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Inside<\/a>
A new study points to why, and how, Io became the most volcanic body in the solar system. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/Koji Kuramura\/Gerald Eichst\u00e4dt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA<\/div>\n

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the United States government agency responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Established in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA has led the U.S. in space exploration efforts, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle program.<\/div>\n

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>NASA<\/span>\u2019s Juno mission has revealed that each of Io\u2019s volcanoes is likely fueled by its own magma chamber, not a global magma ocean.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This conclusion was drawn from precise gravity measurements during Juno\u2019s close flybys, resolving a long-standing mystery about Io\u2019s volcanic activity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Discovery of Io\u2019s Magma Chambers<\/h4>\n

Scientists from NASA\u2019s Juno mission to Jupiter<\/div>\n

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. It is a gas giant with a mass greater then all of the other planets combined. Its name comes from the Roman god Jupiter.<\/div>\n

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>Jupiter<\/span> have discovered that the volcanoes on the planet\u2019s moon Io are likely fueled by individual magma chambers rather than a single global magma ocean. This breakthrough resolves a 44-year-old mystery about the source of Io\u2019s dramatic volcanic activity.<\/p>\n

The discovery was published on December 12 in the journal Nature<\/em> and highlighted during a media briefing at the American Geophysical Union\u2019s annual meeting in Washington, the largest gathering of Earth and space scientists in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"North<\/a>
The north polar region of Jupiter\u2019s volcanic moon Io was captured by NASA\u2019s Juno during the spacecraft\u2019s 57th close pass of the gas giant on December 30, 2023. Data from recent flybys is helping scientists understand Io\u2019s interior. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SwRI\/MSSS, Gerald Eichst\u00e4dt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unveiling the Mystery of Io\u2019s Volcanoes<\/h4>\n

About the size of Earth\u2019s Moon, Io is known as the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The moon is home to an estimated 400 volcanoes, which blast lava and plumes in seemingly continuous eruptions that contribute to the coating on its surface.<\/p>\n

Although the moon was discovered by Galileo Galilei on Jan. 8, 1610, volcanic activity there wasn\u2019t discovered until 1979, when imaging scientist Linda Morabito of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California first identified a volcanic plume in an image<\/a> from the agency\u2019s Voyager 1<\/a> spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Morabito\u2019s discovery, planetary scientists have wondered how the volcanoes were fed from the lava underneath the surface,\u201d said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. \u201cWas there a shallow ocean of white-hot magma fueling the volcanoes, or was their source more localized? We knew data from Juno\u2019s two very close flybys could give us some insights on how this tortured moon actually worked.\u201d<\/p>\n