Galileo spacecraft reveals an ocean of magma

Question: What is the Solar System's most volcanic body? Give up? NASA's Galileo spacecraft has returned data indicating a subsurface ocean of liquid or partially liquid magma on Jupiter's moon Io. This molten layer goes a long way towards explaining why Io is the most volcanic body in the Solar System.

From the NASA article:

• Io produces about 100 times more lava each year than all the volcanoes on Earth. While Earth's volcanoes occur in localized hotspots like the "Ring of Fire" around the Pacific Ocean, Io's volcanoes are distributed all over its surface. A global magma ocean about 20 to 30 miles beneath Io's crust

The NASA article really goes into detail about how Io has been studied and how the volcanic activity was discovered. Its a very informative article.

Probe spies Jupiter's moon Io's volcanic plume

Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft has sent back images of a huge volcanic eruption on Jupiter's moon Io. A massive dust plume, estimated to be 150 miles (240km) high, can be seen erupting from Io's Tvashtar volcano. On Wednesday, the US probe flew by Jupiter, using the planet's gravity to boost its speed, reducing the travel time to its ultimate target of Pluto. New Horizons also took photos of the icy moons Europa and Ganymede in the run-up to its encounter with Jupiter. New Horizons made its closest approach to Jupiter on Wednesday, passing within 2.3 million km (1.4 million miles) of the planet. The probe will carry out more than 700 observations of the Jupiter system by June, in a dry run for its planned rendezvous with Pluto and its moons in 2015.

posted by Shaun A. Saunders