MessageToEagle.com - Where is the "missing" 40 percent of Io's heat? It must come from inside of this strange moon's body!
No impact craters are seen. Their lack on Io, the innermost of Jupiter's largest moons,
in any spacecraft images at any resolution attests to the high resurfacing rate - 1 cm/year! and the dominant role of
active volcanism in shaping its surface.
Jupiter's strange moon is literally bursting with volcanoes. Dozens of active vents pepper the landscape which also
includes gigantic frosty plains, towering mountains and volcanic rings the size of California.
The volcanoes themselves are the hottest spots in the solar system with temperatures exceeding 1800 K (1527 C).
The plumes which rise 300 km into space are so large they can be seen from Earth by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Io has been the focus of repeated telescopic and satellite scientific observation during the last four centuries.
It's probably the most remarkable Galilean moons of Jupiter and the most volcanically active body in the Solar System.
It's hot; tremendous heat in Io's interior, which is relieved through surface volcanism, resulting in 25 times
more volcanic activity than occurs here on Earth.
A new study finds that the pattern of heat coming from volcanoes on Io's surface disposes of the generally-accepted
model of internal heating.
The heat pouring out of Io's hundreds of erupting volcanoes indicates a complex, multi-layer source.
These results come from data collected by NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescopes and appear in the June issue of the journal Icarus.
Click on image to enlarge
These images show some of the most colorful and high-contrast regions - most active volcanic centers on
Jupiter's moon, Io. The images in frames "a" through "g" are all scaled to the same proportions. Frame "a" is 575
kilometers (356 miles) across.
Fresh-appearing lava flows are often associated with active plumes (for example at Loki,
Prometheus, Culann, Marduk, Volund, Zamama, Maui, and Amirani). It is possible that the plumes result from interaction
between the advancing flows and the SO2-rich surface deposits, analogous to the plumes that form when lava flows into
a body of water (for example, in Hawaii). Credits: NASA/ Galileo spacecraft./JPL/University of Arizona
A map of hot spots, classified by the amount of heat being emitted, shows the global distribution and wide range of volcanic
activity on Io. Most of Io's eruptions dwarf their contemporaries on Earth.
"This is the most comprehensive study of Io's volcanic thermal emission to date," said Glenn Veeder of the Bear
Fight Institute, Winthrop, Wash., who led the work of a multi-faceted team that included Ashley Davies, Torrence Johnson
and Dennis Matson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., Jani Radebaugh of Brigham Young University, in
Provo, Utah, and David Williams of Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
Click on image to enlarge
Thermal emission from erupting volcanoes on the jovian moon, Io. A logarithmic scale is used
to classify volcanoes on the basis of thermal emission: the larger the spot, the larger the thermal
emission. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Bear Fight Institute
The team examined data primarily from the NASA's Voyager and Galileo missions, but also incorporated infrared data
obtained from telescopes on Earth.
"The fascinating thing about the distribution of the heat flow is that it is not in keeping with the current preferred
model of tidal heating of Io at relatively shallow depths," said Davies. "Instead, the main thermal emission occurs
about 40 degrees eastward of its expected positions."
Click on image to enlarge
This false color infrared composite of Jupiter's moon Io was produced from images acquired in July and September,
1996 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. The area shown is 11,420 kilometers in width. Deposits of sulfur dioxide frost appear
in white and gray hues while yellowish and brownish hues are probably due to other sulfurous materials.
Sulfur dioxide is normally a gas at room temperatures, but it exists on Io's surface as a frost after condensing there
from the hot gases emanating from the Io volcanoes. Bright red materials (such as the prominent ring surrounding the
currently erupting plume Pele) and spots with low brightness or albedo ("black" spots) mark areas of recent volcanic
activity and are usually associated with high temperatures and surface changes. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS
"The pattern that emerges points to a complex heating process within Io," said Matson.
"What we see indicates a mixture of both deep and shallow heating."
A mystery has also emerged. The team found that active volcanoes accounted for only about 60 percent of Io's heat.
This component mostly emanates from flat-floored volcanic craters called paterae, a common feature on Io.
But where is the "missing" 40 percent?
"We are investigating the possibility that there are many smaller volcanoes that are hard, but not impossible,
to detect," said Veeder. "We are now puzzling over the observed pattern of heat flow."
Credits: David A. Williams, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, David A. Crown, Jessica A. Yff,
Windy L. Jaeger, Paul M. Schenk, Paul E. Geissler, and Tammy L. Becker
Understanding this will help identify the tidal heating mechanisms not only within Io, but also may apply to
neighboring Europa, a high-priority target for NASA in its search for life beyond Earth.
There is conducted a continuous monitoring from ground-based observatories and comparisons between Voyager
and Galileo images confirm the high level of almost non-stop eruptive activity on Io and its high-temperature spots.
Its characteristics have been recognized by countless observations from six National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
spacecraft: Voyager 1 (March 1979), Voyager 2 (July 1979), Hubble Space Telescope (1990-present), Galileo (1996-2001),
Cassini (December 2000), and New Horizons (February 2007).
It was a great event when for the first time, a team of scientists led by Arizona State University has produced the
first complete global map of this Jovian satellite, based on a set of four global mosaics of Io made by
the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
It happened more than 400 years after its discovery by Galileo!
The map depicts the characteristics and relative ages of some of the most geologically unique and active volcanoes
and lava flows ever documented in the Solar System and can be downloaded from the USGS here:
Geological Map of Io
"One of the reasons for making this map was to create a tool for continuing scientific studies of Io, and a tool
for target planning of Io observations on future missions to the Jupiter system," says David Williams, a faculty
research associate in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU, who led the six-year research project to
produce the geologic map.
"The Most Profound Mystery In All Of Science" -
Dark Energy
Little is known about this force and its its repulsive gravity, which is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate.
The riddles of dark matter and cosmic inflation, along with dark energy, these are the three pillars of modern cosmological theory,"
and none of them can be explained with physics that we know," Michael Turner, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics says.
Ground-Breaking Discovery Suggests
Gravity May Not Be A Fundamental Force Of Nature
Can information really escape from a black hole? According to new research it seems to be possible for something to actually escape from a black hole.
If correct, the results are ground-breaking suggesting that gravity may not be a fundamental force of Nature after all!
Last Breaths Of Dying Star Captured
Last breaths of dying sun-like star have been captured by scientists using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
The object observed by SOFIA, planetary nebula Minkowski 2-9, or M2-9 for short, is seen in this three-color composite image.
The SOFIA observations were made at the mid-infrared wavelengths of 20, 24, and 37 microns.
The Moon Is Not Earth's Only Natural Satellite
The Earth constantly captures small objects from (to) the NEO population and scientists construct a steady-state model of the Earth's temporary satellites.
According to their studies, at any given time there is at least one one-meter-diameter object orbiting the Earth and the average satellite makes
about 3 revolutions around the Earth in 9 months.
Alien Species Living In The Inner Milky Way Could Be In Danger
Few people doubt there is intelligent alien life in the Milky Way galaxy, but where can we expect to find it?
Astronomers think that while the inner sector of the MIlky Way Galaxy may be the most likely to support habitable worlds.
Unfortunately some of these places are also most dangerous to all life-forms.
Black Holes With No 'Table Manners' Eat Two Courses At Once!
It is still unknown how the supermassive black holes (SMBH) in galaxy centres accrete gas and grow.
Researchers from the University of Leicester (UK) and Monash University in Australia have investigated how some black holes got so big so fast that they are billions of times heavier than the sun.
Mercury Surprises Scientists
On March 17, MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) completed its one-year primary mission, orbiting Mercury, capturing nearly 100,000 images, and recording data
that reveals new information about the planet's core, topography, and the mysterious radar bright material in the permanently shadowed areas near the poles.
Living Earth Simulator - Supercomputer Predicting The Future
In Douglas Adams book the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy we encounter a machine called Deep Thought. It is the most powerful computer ever built. Deep Thought is capable of answering questions
concerning life, the Universe, and simply everything. Now scientists are planning to create a similar machine. It is called the Living Earth Simulator (LES).
Though the universe is filled with billions upon billions of stars, the discovery of a single variable star in 1923 altered the
course of modern astronomy. And, at least one famous astronomer of the time lamented that the discovery had shattered his world view.
Bright Star In The Constellation Lyra Is Cooler Than The Human Body
The coldest class of stars have temperatures as cool as the human body.
Astronomers hunted these dark orbs, termed Y dwarfs, for more than a decade without success.
When viewed with a visible-light telescope, they are nearly impossible to see.
Thermonuclear Burning In A Neutron Star Detected For The First Time!
It's a very important discovery!
For the first time, an international team of scientists have detected all phases of thermonuclear burning in a
neutron star, located close to the center of the galaxy in the globular cluster Terzan 5.
MessageToEagle.com - Where is the "missing" 40 percent of Io's heat? It must come from inside of this strange moon's body!
Little is known about this force and its its repulsive gravity, which is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate.
The riddles of dark matter and cosmic inflation, along with dark energy, these are the three pillars of modern cosmological theory,"
and none of them can be explained with physics that we know," Michael Turner, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics says.
Can information really escape from a black hole? According to new research it seems to be possible for something to actually escape from a black hole.
Last breaths of dying sun-like star have been captured by scientists using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
The object observed by SOFIA, planetary nebula Minkowski 2-9, or M2-9 for short, is seen in this three-color composite image.
The SOFIA observations were made at the mid-infrared wavelengths of 20, 24, and 37 microns.
The Earth constantly captures small objects from (to) the NEO population and scientists construct a steady-state model of the Earth's temporary satellites.
According to their studies, at any given time there is at least one one-meter-diameter object orbiting the Earth and the average satellite makes
about 3 revolutions around the Earth in 9 months.
Few people doubt there is intelligent alien life in the Milky Way galaxy, but where can we expect to find it?
Astronomers think that while the inner sector of the MIlky Way Galaxy may be the most likely to support habitable worlds.
Unfortunately some of these places are also most dangerous to all life-forms.
It is still unknown how the supermassive black holes (SMBH) in galaxy centres accrete gas and grow.
Researchers from the University of Leicester (UK) and Monash University in Australia have investigated how some black holes got so big so fast that they are billions of times heavier than the sun.
On March 17, MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) completed its one-year primary mission, orbiting Mercury, capturing nearly 100,000 images, and recording data
that reveals new information about the planet's core, topography, and the mysterious radar bright material in the permanently shadowed areas near the poles.
In Douglas Adams book the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy we encounter a machine called Deep Thought. It is the most powerful computer ever built. Deep Thought is capable of answering questions
concerning life, the Universe, and simply everything. Now scientists are planning to create a similar machine. It is called the Living Earth Simulator (LES).
Though the universe is filled with billions upon billions of stars, the discovery of a single variable star in 1923 altered the
course of modern astronomy. And, at least one famous astronomer of the time lamented that the discovery had shattered his world view.
The coldest class of stars have temperatures as cool as the human body.
Astronomers hunted these dark orbs, termed Y dwarfs, for more than a decade without success.
When viewed with a visible-light telescope, they are nearly impossible to see.
It's a very important discovery!
For the first time, an international team of scientists have detected all phases of thermonuclear burning in a
neutron star, located close to the center of the galaxy in the globular cluster Terzan 5.