NASA’s spacecraft Juno has sent batch another batch of spectacular images while orbiting giant planet Jupiter—and they include rare new images of the most volcanic world in the solar system.
During its 53rd orbit since arriving in the Jovian system in 2016, Juno—which is the size of a school bus—dipped close to Jupiter’s cloud-tops, but not before conducting a close flyby of its moon Io.
Best images ever
Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system with hundreds of volcanoes and erupting lava fountains on its surface, according to NASA.
It was imaged by Juno from just 13,821 miles (22,243 kilometers) away—the highest-resolution images obtained of the tortured world since 2007. The above image includes an obvious black area called Loki Patera, Io’s largest volcanic depression, which contains a lake of lava. It’s one of the best images of the region ever obtained.
Io’s Colorful Landscapes
Io is in a constant gravitational tug-of-war with Jupiter and the other big moons as it orbits the giant planet every 42 hours, which causes friction and “tidal heating”. It’s therefore thought to be home to an underground ocean of magma.
This montage, above, was assembled from images taken over 50 minutes and reveals a colorful landscape across Io’s northern hemisphere filled with active lava flows, yellow, red, and green sulfurous deposits and tall silicate mountains, according to citizen scientist and Io expert Jason Perry.
Best is Yet to Come
On May 17, 2023, Juno imaged Jupiter’s moon Io from just 22,060 miles/35,500 kilometers away just a few hours before a rare eclipse of Jupiter by the Moon was seen from North America.
The closest Juno will get to Io is on both December 30, 2023 and on February 3, 2024 when the spacecraft will get to just 900 miles/1,500 kilometers of its surface.
Swirling Clouds
After the flyby of Io, Juno went on to take its now monthly collection of images of Jupiter’s swirling bands of clouds and mysterious stormy atmosphere. As usual, the images showcase the mesmerizing beauty of Jupiter while also giving scientists valuable data about the planet’s atmospheric conditions and storm systems.
On board Juno is a suite of instruments to learn more about the planet’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere, including its interior and its aurorae.
Incredible Images
Juno is in a highly elliptical orbit that takes it close to the polar regions of Jupiter only once 32 days. The images come from JunoCam, a two megapixel camera on the spacecraft that takes images while it spins, creating raw data that’s pieced together by citizen scientists on Earth to create the incredible images you see here.
The data is beamed into space by Juno and picked up as radio signals by NASA’s Deep Space Network, an array of three large radio telescopes in Goldstone in California, Madrid in Spain and Canberra in Australia. The data takes about 34 light-minutes to reach Earth.
Juno’s next close flyby of Jupiter will be on September 7, 2023.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.