Spewed from a volcano [
http://volcano.und.…], a complex plume rises over 300 kilometers above the horizon of Jupiter's moon Io in this image from cameras onboard the New Horizons [
http://pluto.jhuapl…] spacecraft. The volcano, Tvashtar [
http://www.planetar…lava_fountains.html ], is marked by the bright glow [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (about 1 o'clock) at the moon's edge, beyond the terminator or night/day shadow line. The shadow of Io cuts across the plume itself. Also capturing stunning details on the dayside surface, the high resolution image [
http://pluto.jhuapl…031307.html ] was recorded when the spacecraft was 2.3 million kilometers from Io. Later it was combined with lower resolution color data [
http://pluto.jhuapl…032807.html ] by astro-imager Sean Walker to produce this sharp portrait of the solar system's most active moon [
http://www.nineplan…]. Outward bound at almost 23 kilometers "per second", the New Horizons spacecraft should cross the orbit of Saturn in June next year, and is ultimately destined [
http://pluto.jhuapl…passingPlanets_curre nt.php ] to encounter Pluto [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in 2015.
Explanation
Spewed from a volcano [
http://volcano.und.…], a complex plume rises over 300 kilometers above the horizon of Jupiter's moon Io in this image from cameras onboard the New Horizons [
http://pluto.jhuapl…] spacecraft. The volcano, Tvashtar [
http://www.planetar…lava_fountains.html ], is marked by the bright glow [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (about 1 o'clock) at the moon's edge, beyond the terminator or night/day shadow line. The shadow of Io cuts across the plume itself. Also capturing stunning details on the dayside surface, the high resolution image [
http://pluto.jhuapl…031307.html ] was recorded when the spacecraft was 2.3 million kilometers from Io. Later it was combined with lower resolution color data [
http://pluto.jhuapl…032807.html ] by astro-imager Sean Walker to produce this sharp portrait of the solar system's most active moon [
http://www.nineplan…]. Outward bound at almost 23 kilometers "per second", the New Horizons spacecraft should cross the orbit of Saturn in June next year, and is ultimately destined [
http://pluto.jhuapl…passingPlanets_curre nt.php ] to encounter Pluto [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in 2015.
Explanation
