Io's full disk
Click on image for full size
NASA
High-altitude ionosphere found at Io by Galileo
News story originally written on October 23, 1996
Scientists participating in NASA's Galileo mission have
discovered that the during its Io fly-by, Galileo spacecraft may
have flown through a dense, high-altitude ionosphere. This discovery
suggests that Io's atmosphere is time variable and is made of
volcanic gas raised to very high altitudes.
"Sensors on the spacecraft found a very dense region of
ionized oxygen, sulfur and sulfur dioxide at 555 miles on Io
that must be pumped into that region by Io's relentless
volcanic activity," said Dr. Louis A. Frank of the University
of Iowa, principal investigator on Galileo's plasma science
experiment. "Instead of being swept away by Jupiter's
rotating magnetosphere as anticipated, the ionized gases
surprisingly remain with Io," he said.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our
online store includes
issues of NESTA's quarterly journal, The Earth Scientist, full of classroom activities on different topics in Earth and space science, ranging from
seismology,
rocks and minerals,
oceanography, and
Earth system science to
astronomy!
You might also be interested in:
"The weather on Mars: another cool and clear day. Low morning haze will give way to a mostly sunny afternoon with high clouds. The forecast for Venus: hot, overcast, sulfuric acid showers will continue.
...more
Early morning on November, 4 1996, NASA's Galileo spacecraft approached to within 686 miles of the stark, crater-smeared Jupiter's moon Callisto. This is the first time that Galileo has approached Callisto,
...more
Scientists participating in NASA's Galileo mission have discovered that the during its Io fly-by, Galileo spacecraft may have flown through a dense, high-altitude ionosphere. This discovery suggests that
...more
NASA's Galileo spacecraft has transmitted back crisp new images of Jupiter's moon Ganymede which show the moon's surface is daubed by comet and and asteroid impact marks. In addition to these findings,
...more
NASA'S Hubble Space Telescope has taken a rare joint portrait of Jupiter and its volcanically active moon Io, as the moon passes above the turbulent clouds of the giant gas planet. The conspicuous black
...more
Scientists studying Jupiter's auroral regions are using images from Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 to map the planet's immense magnetic field and better understand the auroral phenomena. Aurorae
...more
The Martian north polar is seen to be besieged by a Texas-sized dust storm. Two Hubble Space Telescope images, taken about a month apart shows this storm sitting at the edge of the north polar cap. It
...more
