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Data collected by NASA's Juno satellite using its JIRAM instrument (Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper) points to a new source of heat near the south pole of Io that could indicate an undiscovered volcano on the little moon of Jupiter. The infrared data was collected on December 16, 2017, while Juno was approximately 470,000 kilometers from the moon.
"The new Io hotspot recovered by JIRAM is about 300 km from the nearest," said Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator of the National Institute of Astrophysics in Rome. "We n & # Let's not exclude the movement or modification of a hotspot previously discovered, but it's hard to imagine that one can walk such a distance and still be considered the same thing. "[19659003] The scale to the right of the image represents the range of temperatures displayed in the infrared image.Higher temperatures recorded are characterized by more vivid colors – lower temperatures in more colors Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM ” width=”610″ height=”343″ />
The scale to the right of the image represents the range of temperatures displayed in the image. infrared, higher temperatures recorded are characterized by brighter colors – lower temperatures in darker colors. Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SWRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM
The Juno team will continue to evaluate the data collected on the December 16 flyby, as well as the JIRAM data that will be collected in the future ( and even closer). ) flybys from Io. The former NASA exploration missions that visited the Jovian system (Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons), as well as ground observations, located more than 150 active volcanoes on Io up to the time of flight. ;now. Scientists estimate that about 250 more are waiting to be discovered
Juno has logged nearly 146 million miles (235 million kilometers) since entering Jupiter's orbit on July 4, 2016 The 13th Science Map of Juno will be July 16th. 19659006] Juno was launched on August 5, 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. During its exploration mission, Juno flies over the cloudy peaks of the planet, nearly 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers). During these overflights, Juno probes the cloud cover of Jupiter and studies his aurora borealis to learn more about the origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere of the planet.
JPL leads the Juno mission of senior researcher, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest San Antonio Research Institute. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers program run by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama for the Science Missions Directorate. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) provided two instruments, a Ka-band frequency translator (KaT) and the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM). Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, built the spaceship. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California.
