Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Myriad of Hot Spots on Io
Original Caption Released with Image:
Changes in the volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io can be seen in these three views, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during its three flybys of Io in October 1999, November 1999 and February 2000.

All the images show the active volcanoes as bright yellow, corresponding to hot lava flows that appear glowing in infrared wavelengths. The three views were taken by the spacecraft's near-infrared mapping spectrometer instrument and show the comparison of a typical low-resolution observation to the high-resolution views. The regional observations taken during the recent Io flybys are superimposed on an image taken during Galileo in 1996.

The Prometheus volcano is seen near the middle of all three images. Before the recent flybys, only Prometheus and three other volcanoes were known to be active in this region. After these and other high-resolution observations, scientists were able to detect 14 volcanoes in the same area. The fainter volcanoes (hot spots) show some significant changes over intervals of 1 to 3 months. The area shown by all three observations put together is about 2 million square kilometers (about 770,000 square miles) and covers about 5 percent of Io's surface.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page athttp://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at http: //galileo.jpl.nasa.g ov/gallery/io.cfm.
Addition Date:
2000-05-31
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Galileo
Spacecraft:
Galileo Orbiter
Target Name:
Io
Is a satellite of:
Jupiter
Instrument:
Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer
Product Size:
890 samples x 376 lines
Primary Data Set:
Galileo EDRs
Producer ID:
MRPS96281
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
Galileo
facet_what:
Galileo Orbiter
facet_what:
Spectrometer
facet_what:
Io
facet_what:
Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
California
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_when:
1996
facet_when:
November 1999
facet_when:
February 2000
facet_when:
October 1999
facet_when_year:
1999
facet_when_year:
1996
facet_when_year:
2000
Image #:
PIA02558
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA02558
orignial url:

Myriad of Hot Spots on Io