Scientists Discover Lava Lakes On Jupiter’s Moon Io
May 11th, 2017: Jupiter's moon: Io is a very hostile world. The planetary satellite is tortured by the gravitational forces of Jupiter before erupting with sulfur and lava. Earth's volcanos and lava flows are nothing compared to the show put on by Io.
The recent visit by Voyager proved scientists' speculations about lava lakes on Io's surface. This makes Io the most geologically active body in our solar system. On the surface of Io, Loki Patera is a hot spot. This hot spot gets brighter and dimmer every 400 to 600 hundred days as observed by scientists. Many scientists speculate that Loki Patera is a lava lake on the surface of Io.
Recently, astronomers were subjected to a celestial event that helped them solve this mystery once and for all. Io is the closest moon to Jupiter while Europa is the second closest moon. The transit of Europa in front of Io, results in the surface of Io getting blocked out and then being revealed naturally. This helps the scientists map out the surface of Io, particularly the region of Loki Patera. This map formed by scientists revealed that the brightness and temperature of the region increase steadily from one end to the other.
This varying temperature and brightness change is in coherence with other lava lakes found by scientists. Surprisingly there is an island in the middle of the lava lake, Loki Patera. The island has been there since Voyager photographed the region back in 1979. You can refer to this paper, authored by several scientists for more information on Loki Patera.
