In infrared, Io appears alive with volcanos

Jupiter’s moon Io is a world of active volcanoes. It’s the most volcanically active world in our solar system. Hundreds of volcanoes dot Io’s surface, some spewing lava dozens of miles into the moon’s thin sulfur dioxide atmosphere. The dramatic infrared image above is from the Juno spacecraft, which has been in orbit around Jupiter since July 2016. The craft’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) captured Io in infrared, seen here as processed by Roman Tkachenko (@_RomanTkachenko on Twitter), an amateur astronomer and music producer in Kursk, Russia, and one of many citizen scientists who contribute to the Juno mission by processing the spacecraft’s images.

Tkachenko also annotated the image, as shown below:

Visit NASA’s Juno spacecraft website

Click for Tkachenko’s YouTube channel, focused on New Horizons

Bottom line: The Juno spacecraft, now orbiting Jupiter, acquired this infrared image of the giant planet’s moon Io. Each fiery dot is an active volcano.