Jupiter's moon Io is roiled by a massive, months-long volcanic eruption.

 

Io, the solar system's most active body, has outbursts every year, one of the largest occurring in the fall of 2022.

Io, Jupiter's moon, has been the scene of a massive volcanic eruption. Planetary Science Institute (PSI) senior scientist Jeff Morgenthaler used the Io Input/Output observatory (IoIO) to observe the eruption in the fall of 2022.

Io, one of Jupiter's largest moons, is thought to be the most active body in the solar system due to its extreme conditions and yearly eruptions of volcanism brought on by the planet's enormous gravitational pull.

Io is subjected to powerful tidal forces as a result of the gravity of two of the other large moons of Jupiter, the planet with the greatest mass in the solar system. Io, the innermost of the four large Jovian moons, is stretched and squeezed as a result, resulting in violent volcanic activity.

Since 2017, the PSI-operated IoIO has been monitoring Io's volcanic activity near Benson, Arizona. The instrument is able to image faint gases in close proximity to the gas giant by employing a coronagraphic technique that reduces the light that comes from Jupiter.

Because of this, Morgenthaler was able to observe the sodium brightening in a cloud or "nebula" around Jupiter that began in July 2022 and ended just last month.

The Io plasma torus, or ionized sulfur, which forms a donut-shaped structure around Jupiter, also became brighter in the fall of 2022. However, this was less evident than the Io plasma torus brightening seen in previous outbursts.

Morgenthaler stated in a statement (opens in new tab): "This could be telling us something about the composition of the volcanic activity that produced the outburst or it could be telling us that the torus is more efficient at ridding itself of material when more material is thrown into it."

A Video about the volcanic Eruption of Lo:

NASA's Juno spacecraft, which has been in orbit around the gas giant since 2016, may carry out additional research based on the IoIO observations. In December 2023, Juno will pass close by Io, and its instruments are sensitive to plasma around Jupiter.

Juno may be able to tell astronomers if the volcanic eruption of Fall 2022 had a different chemical composition than other Io eruptions because this plasma can be traced back to Io's volcanic activity.

Morgenthaler, on the other hand, hopes that additional IoIO versions could be operational all over the world before Juno can get close enough to conduct such an investigation.

"The fact that these observations can be replicated by almost any small college or ambitious amateur astronomer is one of the exciting aspects of them. "A high-end camera or telescope store has almost all of the parts needed to build IoIO," Morgenthaler stated. Before Juno reaches Jupiter in December of next year, it would be wonderful to have another IoIO online."

Astronomers may be able to continue monitoring the Jovian moon from Earth during gaps caused by unfavorable weather conditions with the assistance of these additional IoIO copies located in various global locations. Additionally, more time could be available to cover Jupiter's sodium nebula and Io plasma torus, which are both extremely dynamic.

IoIO is observing the sodium "tail" that follows Mercury and planets outside the solar system, or exoplanets, as they transit the face of their stars. This is in addition to studying Jupiter and the elements that surround it.