91av

Space

Lava erupting on Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io is over 1000°C

Astronomers used radio telescopes to estimate the temperature of molten rock on Io, the most volcanically active world in the solar system

By Will Gater

6 October 2022

An infrared image of Io taken by the Juno spacecraft in 2017

An infrared image of Io taken by the Juno spacecraft in 2017

±·´¡³§´¡/´³±Ê³¢-°ä²¹±ô³Ù±ð³¦³ó/³§·É¸é±õ/´¡³§â€‹I/±õ±·´¡¹ó/´³±õ¸é´¡²Ñ

Lava erupting on Jupiter’s volcanic moon, Io, is over 1000°C, according to a new estimate made using radio telescopes.

at the University of California, Berkeley, and her colleagues analysed observations of Io’s atmosphere made using the Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (ALMA) – a collection of radio telescopes operated by the European Southern Observatory within Chile’s Atacama desert.

The study focused on sodium chloride and potassium chloride gases that are thought to be belching from lava lakes and magma chambers on…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with 91av events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop