Magnificent new images of Jupiter’s moon Io are the closest ever taken by Juno

NASA’s Juno has completed its 51st period, the closest pass to Jupiter in its extended orbit around the gas giant. But not only did it approach the planet in person on May 16, it also flew by Io, coming within 35,500 kilometers (22,060 miles) and taking its closest pictures yet of the volcanic moon.

This is the closest Juno has ever been to Io, but it falls short of the records set by NASA’s Galileo, which made numerous flybys of Io and other moons in the Jovian system. But with some citizen scientists processing Juno’s raw data, we’re getting some excellent new views.

Juno’s mission is to explore Jupiter, but as the spacecraft entered its extended mission (now in its third year), the team has been bolder in exploring beyond the planet, with several flybys of three of the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, and Ganymede. The fourth, Callisto, is isolated further from its lunar neighbors. When it comes to tracking though, keeping an eye on Io matters as it can change quickly.

“Jo is the most volcanic celestial body we know of in our solar system,” said Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. statement.

“By monitoring it over time in multiple passes, we can observe how volcanoes vary—how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, whether they are associated with a group or solo, and whether the shape of the lava flow changes. ”

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The image above was edited by NASA JPL Software Engineer Kevin M. Gill on social media and more his Flickr page. It shows the moon more than half illuminated with its volcanic plains and lake and highlighted in the terminator – the line between night and day – something Gill recognizes as Mt. If you want more close-up photos, don’t worry. There are several more flybys of Io in the coming months, and Juno will be getting closer and closer to it.

“We are entering another amazing part of Juno’s mission as we get closer and closer to Io with successive orbits. This 51st orbit will give us our closest look at this tortured moon,” Bolton said.

“Our upcoming flybys in July and October will bring us even closer, leading up to our twin encounters with Io in December this year and February next year, when we fly within 1,500 kilometers of its surface. All of these flybys provide incredible views of the volcanic activity on this incredible moon. The data must be incredible.

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Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for more than 2,500 Earth days and will continue to do so. Its orbit has been lowered and altered to allow new observations not only of the Moon, but of the Jupiter’s faint rings. Currently, the second extended mission ends in September 2025.