您现在的位置是:探索 >>正文
【】
探索61496人已围观
简介NASA's Juno probe, exploring worlds hundreds of millions of miles away, has beamed back some of the ...
NASA's Juno probe, exploring worlds hundreds of millions of miles away, has beamed back some of the closest-ever views of Io, the most volcanic land in our solar system.
The recent Feb. 3 flyby passed just 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the lava-covered Io, illuminating many of this world's features — and could answer big questions about what's happening beneath the Jovian moon's lively surface.
"We're seeing an incredible amount of detail on the surface," Ashley Davies, a planetary scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory who researches Io, told Mashable. "It's just a cornucopia of data. It's just extraordinary."
SEE ALSO:NASA rover finds damaged helicopter in the middle of Mars desertIo is blanketed in erupting volcanoes because it's relentlessly locked in a tug-of-war between nearby objects, including the colossal Jupiter. "Not only is the biggest planet in the solar system forever pulling at it gravitationally, but so are Io’s Galilean siblings — Europa and the biggest moon in the solar system, Ganymede," NASA explained in a statement. "The result is that Io is continuously stretched and squeezed, actions linked to the creation of the lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes."
"It's just extraordinary."
Here are some of the most striking observations from the Juno spacecraft's latest swoops above Io. (Some 930 miles away is quite close — for reference, the International Space Station hovers 250 miles above Earth.)
Huge volcanoes on Io

The recent Io images provide great detail about the moon's terrain, particularly in the northern polar regions, Davies said.
These are huge mountains. Some of them are oddly shaped mounds, revealing volcanic collapses. Ultimately, the views will help researchers grasp how these large features formed.
"The images show this incredible menagerie of volcanic creatures on the surface," Davies marveled.
Tweet may have been deleted
Volcanic plumes shooting off Io

The most recent flyby — formally known as Perijove 58 for Juno's 58th journey around the gas giant Jupiter — captured footage of plumes.
"On Feb. 3, the #JunoMission captured two volcanic plumes rising above Jupiter's moon Io – either two vents from one giant volcano, or two volcanoes near each other," NASA wrote about the intriguing observation on Feb. 5.
Upon closer investigation, space agency scientists have now narrowed the plumes' location to Xihe, a volcano in Io's southern hemisphere.
"Always exciting to see plumes," Davies said.
Extraterrestrial plumes, while fascinating, are relatively common on Io, a world a little bigger than Earth's moon but blanketed in hundreds of volcanoes. Just in recent months, Juno observed a hazy plume over the volcano Prometheus. NASA's Galileo mission also captured a plume above these fields of lava in the year 2000.
Related Stories
- Why so many volcanoes seem to be erupting right now
- NASA spacecraft keeps on going faster and faster and faster
- You should buy eclipse glasses right NOW. Here's how to find legit ones.
- NASA found a super-Earth. It's in a tantalizing place.
- If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll know
The most powerful volcano in the solar system

The newly returned images show clear views of Loki Patera, a volcano over 110 miles (180 kilometers) across that has formed a massive lava lake. The image above on right, taken on Feb. 3, reveals sunlight reflecting off of this lava field, which is likely covered with a smooth or glassy crust.
"It's absolutely stunning, stunning imagery," said Davies. "It's the most powerful volcano in the whole solar system."
Loki Patera consistently releases heat, and is "historically the most active and persistent hot spot on Io," NASA explains.

Looming questions remain about what's transpiring beneath Io's potent volcanoes.
Is there a grandiose global sea of magma swirling underneath Io's surface? Or, perhaps, is the lava pouring onto the moon largely created by a process more similar to Earth's, whereby a great amount of heat flow is created below the hard crust (in the upper mantle), which ultimately gives rise to regions where magma erupts onto the surface?
Stay tuned. With all this newly returned data and imagery, researchers may indeed find an answer.
TopicsNASA
Tags:
转载:欢迎各位朋友分享到网络,但转载请说明文章出处“夫榮妻貴網”。http://new.maomao321.com/news/84e21799698.html
相关文章
Singapore gets world's first driverless taxis
探索SINGAPORE -- The world's first self-driving taxis started picking up passengers in Singapore on Thur ...
【探索】
阅读更多This disturbing dolphin selfie trend is a low point for humanity
探索Could people please stop dragging dolphins from the water in order to take selfies with them?SEE ALS ...
【探索】
阅读更多Amazon's getting serious about its delivery ambitions with a $1.4 billion hub
探索Amazon's delivery has a home: Kentucky. The tech giant will build a $1.39 billion hub for delivery s ...
【探索】
阅读更多
热门文章
- J.K. Rowling makes 'Harry Potter' joke about Olympics event
- Fans are having a sexy good time with the new 'Mass Effect' trailer
- India is remeasuring Mount Everest to find out if it shrunk after earthquake
- Nothing to see here, just a cricket commentator announcing a match during his vasectomy
- Pokémon Go is so big that it has its own VR porn parody now
- Amazon's getting serious about its delivery ambitions with a $1.4 billion hub
最新文章
Darth Vader is back. Why do we still care?
Trump is going to build that damn wall and all people can talk about is avocados
7 February games you should get excited about
Apple, Uber, Netflix, Twitter join corporate rebuke of Trump immigration policy
5 people Tim Cook calls for advice on running the biggest company in the world
Twitter users finding hope in 'badass' national parks