NASA’s Juno Probe Discovers a Large New Volcano on Jupiter’s Moon Io

Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery of a massive, active volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io. This finding was made possible by comparing images of the same location taken by two NASA missions with a time difference of more than 25 years.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft and its JunoCam camera captured images of the new volcano this year during a flyby of Io, the most volcanic moon in the solar system. The images were taken on Io’s night side, when the moon is illuminated only by sunlight reflected from Jupiter.

When scientists compared these images with images of the same area south of Io’s equator taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1997, they found that there were no volcanic objects in this place before. This means that this huge volcano was formed sometime in the past 27 years.

“Our recent JunoCam images show many changes on Io, including this large and complex volcanic structure that appears to have appeared out of nowhere since 1997,” said Michael Raven of Malin Space Science Systems. The company designed, developed and operates JunoCam within the mission for NASA’s Juno

JunoCam images show a red area on the eastern side of the volcano. Scientists believe this is where sulfur was first ejected into space, then returned and remained on the surface of Io. To the west, two black lava flows about 100 kilometers long can be seen, surrounded by two gray circular deposits.

During its flybys in 2023 and 2024, JunoCam recorded a total of nine plumes associated with active volcanic activity on the satellite. The images also revealed new lava flows and other surface deposits.

Io is slightly larger than our Moon, somewhere between giant and gigantic. It is orbited by Jupiter and its moons Europa and Ganymede. Their gravity constantly affects Io’s interior, stretching it and generating heat, leading to volcanic activity across the moon’s surface. It is believed that during the eruptions, molten sulfur and its compounds hit the surface.

NASA’s Juno probe was launched in 2011 and has arrived at the Jupiter system within 5 years. The spacecraft’s primary mission ends in the summer of 2021, but it is still working, so its capabilities should continue to be used. The extended mission will last until January 2025, and the official mission page will regularly publish photos taken by JunoCam.